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Updated: Jan 23, 2026

Tangential Flow Ultrafiltration: A “Green” Method for the Size Selection and Concentration of Colloidal Silver Nanoparticles
Published on: October 4, 2012
Density Gradient Selection of Colloidal Silver Nanotriangles for Assembling Dye-Particle Plasmophores
Rui Oliveira-Silva1,2, Mariana Sousa-Jerónimo3, David Botequim4,5
1iBB-Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal. ruipsilva@tecnico.ulisboa.pt.
Researchers developed a simple method to separate silver nanotriangles by size, enabling tunable optical properties for plasmonic applications. This led to brighter dye-particle plasmophores for advanced fluorescence nanosensors.
Area of Science:
- Nanotechnology
- Materials Science
- Optics
Background:
- Colloidal silver nanotriangles exhibit tunable optical properties.
- Fractionation of nanoparticles is crucial for controlling these properties.
- Existing methods may lack simplicity or efficiency.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a simple and effective method for fractionating colloidal silver nanotriangles.
- To demonstrate the utility of fractionated nanotriangles in plasmonic applications.
- To create enhanced fluorescent nanostructures for sensing.
Main Methods:
- Sucrose density gradient centrifugation for nanoparticle fractionation.
- Characterization of particle fractions using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy.
- Assembly of dye-particle plasmophores using selected nanotriangle fractions and Atto-655 dye.
- Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) to measure emission brightness.
Main Results:
- Successful fractionation of silver nanotriangles yielding distinct SPR peaks from red to infrared.
- Demonstrated tuning of optical properties by selecting specific nanotriangle fractions.
- Fabricated dye-particle plasmophores with significantly enhanced fluorescence.
- Individual plasmophores showed over 1000-fold increase in emission brightness compared to free dye.
Conclusions:
- Sucrose density gradient centrifugation is a viable method for separating silver nanotriangles.
- Fractionated silver nanotriangles enable precise control over optical properties for plasmonics.
- Dye-particle plasmophores are highly promising for developing sensitive fluorescence-based nanosensors.
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