Tuning the Hydrophilicity of Gold Nanoparticles Templated in Star Block Copolymers

Fustin, Charles-Andre; Colard, Catheline; Filali, Mariam; Guillet, Pierre; Duwez, Anne-Sophie; Meier, Michael; Schubert, Ulrich S.; Gohy, Jean-Francois

Abstract:

We report on a simple procedure to tune the hydrophilicity of hybrid gold nanoparticles. The nanoparticles have been prepared in the core of a poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(-caprolactone) (PEG-b-PCL) five-arm star block copolymer. A hydrophilic corona was then added to these hybrid gold nanoparticles by direct chemisorption of trithiocarbonate-containing poly(acrylic acid) chains. These polymers were synthesized by RAFT polymerization with a trithiocarbonate as the chain-transfer agent. The efficiency of the grafting was evidenced by TEM, AFM, and DLS and by the successful transfer of these nanoparticles from organic solvent to water.

Year:

2006

Type of Publication:

Article

Journal:

Langmuir

Volume:

22

Pages:

6690 - 6695