Abstract:
Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are 1D structures with unique physical and chemical properties that are promising for use in a variety of fields, including biomedicine. However, their low solubility in water makes them difficult to use for biomedical applications. To overcome this, different methods have been developed to make them soluble, including wrapping them in polymers or biopolymers, or chemically modifying them. SWNTs also have unique optical properties, such as photoluminescence in the NIR and strong resonant Raman signatures, making them useful as nanoprobes in biomedical imaging and phototherapies. By decorating SWNTs with noble metal nanoparticles, such as gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), the composite material can exhibit an excellent surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effect, which has potential applications in cell imaging. The presentation describes a new and easy way to decorate SWNTs with AuNPs using synthetic DNA, which strongly enhances their Raman signal. One of the benefits of this method is the presence of free DNA around the SWNT-AuNPs, which allows for further modification of the nanocomposite using complementary DNA strands containing molecules of interest.
