Skip to main content
Home

Dedicated to discovery

  • Company
    • About us
    • Careers
    • Events
  • Support
    • Laboratory Planning
  • Contact
  • DE
  • ES
  • FR
  • IT
  • PT
  • EN-US
Home
  • Products
    • PURELAB®
      • PURELAB® Dispenser
      • PURELAB® Flex
      • PURELAB® Quest
      • PURELAB® Pharma Compliance
      • PURELAB® Chorus 1 Complete
      • PURELAB® Chorus 1
      • PURELAB® Chorus 2
      • PURELAB® Chorus 3
      • Purelab Chorus 2+ (RO/DI/UV) / (RO/EDI/UV)
    • CENTRA®
      • CENTRA® R60/120
      • CENTRA® R200
      • CENTRA® RDS
    • MEDICA®
      • MEDICA® 150
      • MEDICA® 7/15
      • MEDICA® BIOX 2024
      • MEDICA® Pro-R & Pro-RE
      • MEDICA® R200
      • MEDICA® EDI 15/30
      • MEDICA® Pro-LPS
      • MEDICA® Pro EDI 60/120
      • MEDICA® BIOX
      • Hubgrade
    • BIOPURE®
      • BIOPURE® 300/600
    • PURENERGY® 30
    • ELGA Full Product Range
  • Applications
    • Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy
    • Cell and Tissue Culture
    • Clinical Biochemistry
    • Electrochemistry
    • Gas Chromatography
    • General lab water requirement
    • High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)
    • Immunochemistry
    • Liquid Chromatography
      • High Performance Liquid Chromatography
    • Mass Spectrometry
    • Microbiology
    • Molecular Biology
    • Spectrophotometry
  • Technologies
    • Activated Carbon
    • Electrodeionization (EDI)
    • Filtration
    • Ion Exchange
    • PureSure
    • Reverse Osmosis
    • Ultraviolet
  • Impurities In Water
    • Dissolved Gases
    • Inorganic Compounds
    • Microorganisms & Bacteria
    • Organic Compounds
    • Particulates
  • Knowledge
    • BROSCHÜREN
    • Blog
    • Case Studies
    • Ultrapure water
    • Guides and White Papers
  • Where to buy
  • Contact us
Home
  • Contact us
  • Products
    • PURELAB®
      • PURELAB® Dispenser
      • PURELAB® Flex
      • PURELAB® Quest
      • PURELAB® Pharma Compliance
      • PURELAB® Chorus 1 Complete
      • PURELAB® Chorus 1
      • PURELAB® Chorus 2
      • PURELAB® Chorus 3
      • Purelab Chorus 2+ (RO/DI/UV) / (RO/EDI/UV)
    • CENTRA®
      • CENTRA® R60/120
      • CENTRA® R200
      • CENTRA® RDS
    • MEDICA®
      • MEDICA® 150
      • MEDICA® 7/15
      • MEDICA® BIOX 2024
      • MEDICA® Pro-R & Pro-RE
      • MEDICA® R200
      • MEDICA® EDI 15/30
      • MEDICA® Pro-LPS
      • MEDICA® Pro EDI 60/120
      • MEDICA® BIOX
      • Hubgrade
    • BIOPURE®
      • BIOPURE® 300/600
    • PURENERGY® 30
    • ELGA Full Product Range
  • Applications
    • Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy
    • Cell and Tissue Culture
    • Clinical Biochemistry
    • Electrochemistry
    • Gas Chromatography
    • General lab water requirement
    • High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)
    • Immunochemistry
    • Liquid Chromatography
      • High Performance Liquid Chromatography
    • Mass Spectrometry
    • Microbiology
    • Molecular Biology
    • Spectrophotometry
  • Technologies
    • Activated Carbon
    • Electrodeionization (EDI)
    • Filtration
    • Ion Exchange
    • PureSure
    • Reverse Osmosis
    • Ultraviolet
  • Impurities In Water
    • Dissolved Gases
    • Inorganic Compounds
    • Microorganisms & Bacteria
    • Organic Compounds
    • Particulates
  • Knowledge
    • BROSCHÜREN
    • Blog
    • Case Studies
    • Ultrapure water
    • Guides and White Papers
  • Where to buy
  • Contact us
  • Company
    • About us
    • Careers
    • Events
  • Support
    • Laboratory Planning
  • Contact
  • DE
  • ES
  • FR
  • IT
  • PT
  • EN-US
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Global Legal Compliance
  • Patents
  • Trademarks
  • Impressum

 

Let's talk about lab water

  • Categories
    • Analytical Chemistry
    • Biotechnology
    • Clinical & Pharma
    • Cool Science
    • Environment & Sustainability
    • Future Science
    • Going Green
    • Life in The Lab
    • Life Science Results
    • Pharma
    • PURELAB Product Design
    • Science of the Future
    • The Solution Behind Great Science
    • Water In The Lab
    • Water Purity
  • Authors
    • ELGA Editorial Team_cloned
    • fbiederbick
    • ELGA Editorial Team
    • rswinka
    • Dr Bethany Campbell
    • Natasha Zarach
    • Dr Paul Whitehead
    • Dr Alison Halliday
    • John Walker
Analytical Chemistry

Simplified Preparation of Stable Gold Nanoparticle Dispersions

7 Sep 2020
- by Dr Paul Whitehead

gold particles

Gold nanoparticles possess unique optoelectronic properties due to the presence of a surface plasmon resonance band. These characteristics can be tuned, providing potential applications in biochemistry (1,2) such as plasmonic photothermal therapy (2,3) and drug and gene delivery applications(2,3).

A major drawback for in vivo applications is the interactions of gold nanoparticles with biomolecules, such as opsonins, which prevent other molecules reaching close enough to the particle surface. This has been most effectively overcome by coating the particles in polyethylene glycol (PEG) to create a thin hydrated barrier that sterically prevents opsonization.  

PEGylation of the gold particles is usually carried out in a two stage process in which the synthesis of gold particles is followed by attachment of the thiol-modified PEG. Nitica et al. (4) have developed a novel simplified single-step procedure.

The complete preparation is achieved by uniformly heating in a microwave oven, for 2 minutes, a solution of PEG 1000, H[AuCl4] and NaOH in ultrapure water produced by an ELGA LabWater Chorus 1. The purity of the ultrapure water is critical as any particulate, ionic or organic impurities can seriously interfere with the procedure.

The gold particles produced were shown to be highly mono-dispersed with diameters very largely in the range from 30 to 45nm. The PEG coating is about 3nm thick. When studied by TEM, FT-IR and UV the particles show the expected characteristics. They show considerable promise for use as a substrate in Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS).

References:

  1. K. Rahme, L. Chen, R.G. Hobbs, M.A. Morris, C. O’Driscoll and J.D. Holmes, “PEGylated gold nanoparticles: polymer quantification as a function of PEG lengths and nanoparticle dimensions” RSC Advances vol. 3, no. 17, 6085-6094, 2013
  2. P.Ghosh, G. Han, M. De, C. Kim and V.Rotello, “Gold nanoparticles in delivery applications”, Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, vol. 60, no. 11, 1307-1315, 2008
  3. R. A. Sperling, P. Rivera Gil, F. Zhang, M. Zanelle and W. J. Parak, “Biological applications of gold nanoparticles” Chemical Society Reviews, vol. 37, no. 9, 1896-1908, 2008
  4. S. Nitica, A. I. Moldovan, V. Toma, C. S. Moldovan, I. Berindab-Neagoe, G. Stiufiuc, C. M. Lucaciu and R. Stiufiuc, “PEGylated gold nanoparticles with interesting plasmonic properties synthesized using an original rapid and easy-to-implement procedure” Journal of Nanomaterials , vol. 2018, article ID 5954028

 

Dr Paul Whitehead 

After a BA in Chemistry at Oxford University, Paul focused his career on industrial applications of chemistry. He was awarded a PhD at Imperial College, London for developing a microwave-induced-plasma detector for gas chromatography. He spent the first half of his career managing the analytical support team at the Johnson Matthey Research/Technology Centre,specialising in the determination of precious metals and characterising applications such as car-exhaust catalysts and fuel cells. Subsequently, as Laboratory Manager in R&D for ELGA LabWater, he has been involved in introducing and developing the latest water purification technologies. He now acts as a consultant for ELGA.

 

Explore more from our blog

18 Mar 2024
PURELAB flex - A simple solution to reducing your lab's carbon footprint
7 Dec 2023
The Power of Water as a Solvent in Green Chemistry
16 Nov 2023
Learning the Secrets of a Unique Ecosystem in the Heart of Siberia
9 Nov 2023
Organic Dry Pea: The Sustainable Protein Powerhouse of the Future
27 Okt. 2023
Kontamination von Lebensmitteln – Der ständige Bedarf an sicheren Analysen
27 Okt. 2023
Von der Wildpflanze zum funktionellen Lebensmittel: Die süße Vogelbeere als Superfood
27 Okt. 2023
Wechselwirkung von Wasser und Futtermittel mit oralen Antibiotika in der konventionellen Schweinehaltung
27 Okt. 2023
Sind „Bio“-Lebensmittel wirklich besser für die Gesundheit?

Blog Categories

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Biotechnology
  • Clinical & Pharma
  • Cool Science
  • Environment & Sustainability
  • Future Science
  • Going Green
  • Life in The Lab
  • Life Science Results
  • Pharma
  • PURELAB Product Design
  • Science of the Future
  • The Solution Behind Great Science
  • Water In The Lab
  • Water Purity

CTA Blog

  • Sales Enquiry
  • Get a Quote
  • Technical Support
  • Find an Approved Partner

Sales Enquiry

At ELGA LabWater, we have exciting offers and news about our products and services that we hope you’d like to hear about. We will use your information to predict what you might be interested in. We will treat your data with respect and you can find the details in our Privacy Policy.

ELGA LabWater works with a network of Approved Partners. In order to answer your questions or enquiries, we may pass your contact details to an Approved Partner, who may contact you directly. 

I'd like to receive updates from ELGA LabWater & ELGA Approved Partners based on my details.

Get a Quote

At ELGA LabWater, we have exciting offers and news about our products and services that we hope you’d like to hear about. We will use your information to predict what you might be interested in. We will treat your data with respect and you can find the details in our Privacy Policy.

ELGA LabWater works with a network of Approved Partners. In order to answer your questions or enquiries, we may pass your contact details to an Approved Partner, who may contact you directly. 

I'd like to receive updates from ELGA LabWater & ELGA Approved Partners based on my details.

Technical Support

At ELGA LabWater, we have exciting offers and news about our products and services that we hope you’d like to hear about. We will use your information to predict what you might be interested in. We will treat your data with respect and you can find the details in our Privacy Policy.

ELGA LabWater works with a network of Approved Partners. In order to answer your questions or enquiries, we may pass your contact details to an Approved Partner, who may contact you directly. 

Call us

Can't find what you are looking for?

Support Number
+44 (0)20 3567 7300
United Kingdom Sales
+44 (0)1628 879 704
United States of America Sales
+1 877-315-3542
France Sales
+33 1 40 83 65 00
China Sales
+86 400-616-8882

 

ELGA LabWater UK Headquarters

Lane End Business Park
Lane End, High Wycombe
HP14 3BY
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0) 203 567 7300
F: +44 (0) 203 567 7205

Case Studies

  • Abbott Diagnostics
  • DASA Medical Diagnostics
  • NeoDIN Medical Institute
  • North Staffordshire NHS Trust
  • Olsberg Vocational College

Resources

  • Learn About Ultrapure Water
  • Guides and White Papers
  • Purification Technologies
  • Applications
  • Impurities In Water
  • Latest Blog
  • Water Purity - Different Types of Pure Water
  • What is Clinical Laboratory Reagent Water (CLSI)?
  • What is Total Organic Carbon (TOC)?

© VWS (UK) Ltd. trading as ELGA LabWater. 2025 - All rights reserved.
ELGA is the global laboratory water brand name of Veolia.

  • Privacy policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Global Legal Compliance
  • Patents
  • Trademarks
  • Impressum
  • Language
    • Deutsch
    • English
    • Español
    • Français
    • Italiano
    • Português
    • 日本語
    • 中文
  • Other Veolia Sites
    • Veolia
    • Veolia Foundation
    • Veolia Water Technologies
Elga Veolia
TOP

© 2017 ELGA Veolia