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Published on: July 9, 2015
"Smart" diblock copolymers as templates for magnetic-core gold-shell nanoparticle synthesis
Michael A Nash1, James J Lai, Allan S Hoffman
1Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
None:
We report a new strategy for synthesizing temperature-responsive gamma-Fe(2)O(3)-core/Au-shell nanoparticles (Au-mNPs) from diblock copolymer micelles. The amphiphilic diblock copolymer chains were synthesized using reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) with a thermally responsive "smart" poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAAm) block and an amine-containing poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethylacrylamide) (DMAEAm) block that acted as a reducing agent during gold shell formation. The Au-mNPs reversibly aggregated upon heating the solution above the transition temperature of pNIPAAm, resulting in a red-shifted localized surface plasmon resonance.
