Surface functionalization and ligand-receptor binding of Au nanorods: Effects of local curvature, polymer chemistry, and polymer architecture

GONZALEZ SOLVEYRA, ESTEFANIA; MALASPINA, DAVID C.; SZLEIFER, IGAL

New Orleans

Congreso; ACS Spring Meeting 2018; 2018

American Chemistry Society

Interactions at the bio/nano interface determine the fate of gold nanorods (Au-NRs) for biomedical applications. In this work we apply a molecular theory to study the effect of local curvature on the surface functionalization of Au-NRs with polymer mixtures comprising linear and branched polypeptoids, with branches containing biotin groups. We perform systematic calculations on the adsorption and streptavidin-biotin binding processes varying the backbone length, number of branches, monomer type, and solution conditions.Surface density of each polymer in the mixture is position dependent, and it can be tuned by changing the mixture pair: in both mixtures, the linear polymer is the same, however its adsorption changes drastically when changing the monomer size of the branched polymer. Local curvature and molecular details of the mixture also affect the binding of streptavidin to the biotin-conjugated NR.