Evaluating aggregation of gold nanoparticles and humic substances using fluorescence spectroscopy

The fate and transport of diagnostic gold nanoparticles in surface waters would significantly depend on their interactions with humic substances, which are ubiquitously found in natural aquatic systems. The current study employs UV-visible absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopy to investigate the interactions of commercial humic acid (HA) with gold nanoparticles having a core size of 5 nm and coated with two different stabilizers, beta-D-glucose and citrate. Humic substances (HS) are fluorescent in nature, providing a unique probe of nanometer-scale morphological changes for interactions between these natural polyelectrolytes and water-soluble gold nanoparticles. Quenching of fluorescence intensity was observed with beta-D-glucose-coated gold nanoparticles, whereas an enhancement effect was noticed with the citrate-coated particles when mixed with HA having concentrations of 2 and 8 ppm (surface waters typically may contain approximately 10 ppm HS). Examining the quenching and enhancement of fluorescence provides insight into the structural changes taking place at the coated gold nanoparticle-HA interface. The quenching behavior suggested ligand exchange due to nanometer-scale contact between the HA and beta-D-glucose-coated gold nanoparticles, whereas the enhancement effect with citrate particles would indicate overcoating, leading to increased transfer distances for fluorescence resonance energy transfer.