pH-Sensitive Optical Nanocomposites Using Polymer-Coated Gold Nanorods

Abstract

This study investigates the synthesis of pH-responsive, reversible nanocomposites comprising polystyrene sulfonate (PSS)-coated gold nanorods and poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH)-coated gold nanorods, along with their optical properties. We observed a pH-dependent swelling/shrinking of the nanocomposites and a dramatic red-shift ([~] 60 nm) of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peaks as the pH changed from around 5.4 to 7.2 due to the increased side-by-side interactions of adjacent gold nanorods. These pH-responsive nanocomposites, with tunable SPR peaks, hold potential for use as contrast agents in optical molecular imaging. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACTpH-Sensitive Polymer-Coated Gold Nanorods for Reversible SPR Shifts and Applications in pH Sensing as Optical Materials. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=145 SRC="FIGDIR/small/646487v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (37K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1bb05bforg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1767c02org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1c77356org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1654647_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG