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Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Facile and Efficient Preparation of Tri-component Fluorescent Glycopolymers via RAFT-controlled Polymerization
Published on: June 19, 2015
Polymer@gold Nanoparticles Prepared via RAFT Polymerization for Opto-Biodetection
Sónia O Pereira1, Ana Barros-Timmons2, Tito Trindade3
1Department of Chemistry, CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal. sonia.pereira@ua.pt.
Abstract:
Colloidal gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) have been used in several biological applications, which include the exploitation of size- and shape-dependent Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) in biosensing devices. In order to obtain functional and stable Au NPs in a physiological medium, surface modification and functionalization are crucial steps in these endeavors. Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization meets this need offering the possibility of control over the composition and architecture of polymeric shells coating Au NPs. Furthermore, playing with a careful choice of monomers, RAFT polymerization allows the possibility to design a polymer shell with the desired functional groups aiming at Au based nanocomposites suitable for biorecognition and biotargeting. This review provides important aspects concerning the synthesis and optical properties of Au NPs as well as concepts of RAFT polymerization. Understanding these concepts is crucial to appreciate the chemical strategies available towards RAFT-polymer coated Au core-shell nanostructures, which are here reviewed. Finally, examples of applications in opto-biodetection devices are provided and the potential of responsive "smart" nanomaterials based on such structures can be applied to other biological applications.
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