Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16803, USA.
J Am Chem Soc. 2013 Apr 24;135(16):5950-3. doi: 10.1021/ja400225n. Epub 2013 Apr 11.
We describe the spontaneous incorporation of amphiphilic gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) into the walls of surfactant vesicles. Au NPs were functionalized with mixed monolayers of hydrophilic (deprotonated mercaptoundecanoic acid, MUA) and hydrophobic (octadecanethiol, ODT) ligands, which are known to redistribute dynamically on the NP surface in response to changes in the local environment. When Au NPs are mixed with preformed surfactant vesicles, the hydrophobic ODT ligands on the NP surface interact favorably with the hydrophobic core of the bilayer structure and guide the incorporation of NPs into the vesicle walls. Unlike previous strategies based on small hydrophobic NPs, the present approach allows for the incorporation of water-soluble particles even when the size of the particles greatly exceeds the bilayer thickness. The strategy described here based on inorganic NPs functionalized with two labile ligands should in principle be applicable to other nanoparticle materials and bilayer structures.
我们描述了两亲性金纳米粒子（Au NPs）自发掺入表面活性剂囊泡壁的过程。Au NPs 用混合的亲水（去质子化巯基十一酸，MUA）和疏水（十八硫醇，ODT）配体进行功能化，已知这些配体在 NP 表面上会动态重新分布，以响应局部环境的变化。当 Au NPs 与预先形成的表面活性剂囊泡混合时，NP 表面上的疏水 ODT 配体与双层结构的疏水核心有利相互作用，并引导 NP 掺入囊泡壁中。与以前基于小疏水 NP 的策略不同，即使粒子的尺寸大大超过双层厚度，本方法也允许水溶性粒子的掺入。这里描述的基于用两种不稳定配体功能化的无机 NPs 的策略原则上应该适用于其他纳米粒子材料和双层结构。
