| The objective of this study was to develop a synthetic method for the preparation of monofunctionalized gold nanoparticles and to demonstrate that these particles could be treated like molecules. In this study, monofunctionalized gold nanoparticles were prepared using a solid-phase synthesis technique. After careful optimization of the experimental conditions, it was found that the solid support swellabity, and loading ratio are two of the most important experimental parameters. The resulting nanoparticles were characterized using TEM, 1H NMR, and FTIR and compared to nanoparticles functionalized using the solution-phase place-exchange method. It was found that solid-phase synthesis is a superior method for the preparation of monofunctional gold nanoparticles.; The monofunctional gold nanoparticles were then coupled with various polymers, including a generation 5 PAMAM dendrimer and polylysine with three molecular weights. It was observed that nanoparticle clusters could be prepared from the dendrimer and that different-sized rings could be obtained from the polylysine. These experiments indicate that the monofunctional gold nanoparticles can be treated like regular molecules for chemical reactions.; The solid-phase method was also used for the preparation of larger monofunctional gold nanoparticles. It was found that, after solid-phase synthesis, these nanoparticles could be coupled with a diamine to produce nanoparticle pairs. Large nanoparticles exhibit a much stronger surface plasmon resonance band which may make them useful for single molecule detection using surface-enhanced Raman scattering. Attempts were made to produce monofunctional water-soluble gold nanoparticles using solid-phase synthesis. Although these experiments were unsuccessful due to loss of nanoparticle stabilization during the process, alternative methods were identified through this study. Finally, Langmuir monolayers were prepared from the monofunctional as well as regular gold nanoparticles. Films from the monofunctioal gold nanoparticles may be useful for sensor or catalytic applications. |
