Isolation of discrete nanoparticle-DNA conjugates for plasmonic applications

Discrete DNA-gold nanoparticle conjugates with DNA lengths as short as 15 bases for both 5 and 20 nm gold particles have been purified by anion-exchange HPLC. Conjugates comprising short DNA (<40 bases) and large gold particles (> or =20 nm) are difficult to purify by other means and are potential substrates for plasmon coupling experiments. Conjugate purity is demonstrated by hybridizing complementary conjugates to form discrete structures, which are visualized by TEM.