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Bifunctional Au-nanorod@Fe3O4 nanocomposites: synthesis, characterization, and their use as bioprobes

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Abstract

Multifunctional nanostructures containing magnetite and gold have warranted interest due to their significant applications in biotechnology and medical diagnosis. In the present study, Au-nanorod@Fe3O4 core–shell nanocomposites are synthesized by the decomposition of Fe(acac)3 onto Au-nanorods (GNRs) through a solvothermal reaction using octylamine as a reductive reagent. The reaction conditions, including temperature, concentration, and molar ratio of Fe and Au elements, are investigated to obtain the desired nanocomposites. The sizes of nanocomposites are observed to be 30–50 nm in length and ca. 20 nm in diameter for GNR cores, and ca. 5 nm in thickness for Fe3O4 shells. The compositions are investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy instrument. The surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of the sample is studied using 4-aminothiophenol as an imitational object. The magnetic property is characterized by a quantum magnetometer at 300 K. Folic acid is connected on the surface of GNR@Fe3O4 nanocomposite through surface modification to form a probe nanostructure for cancer cells. The nanocomposites could be used to separate HeLa cells from the culture medium by an external magnetic field, and further shows a pronounced SERS effect in the detection of HeLa cells.

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Acknowledgments

This study is supported by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (No. 2103048), Funding Project for Academic Human Resources Development in Institutions of Higher Learning Under the Jurisdiction of Beijing Municipality (PHR20100718), and Beijing Excellent Talent (2010D005016000008).

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  1. Department of Chemistry, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, People’s Republic of China

    Yang Tian, Lijun Chen, Jing Zhang, Zhanfang Ma & Chaonan Song

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  1. Yang Tian
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  3. Jing Zhang
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Correspondence to Yang Tian.

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Tian, Y., Chen, L., Zhang, J. et al. Bifunctional Au-nanorod@Fe3O4 nanocomposites: synthesis, characterization, and their use as bioprobes. J Nanopart Res 14, 998 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-012-0998-y

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