Simultaneous Determination of Size and Position of Silver and Gold Nanoparticles in Onion Cells using Laser Ablation-ICP-MS.

Size distribution and mapping analyses of Ag and Au nanoparticles (NPs) have been made using an ICP-MS combined with laser ablation sampling technique (LA-ICP-MS). With the femtosecond laser (Ti:S laser) ablation system, the measured size distribution was modified to be smaller, whereas this disintegration could be reduced when the nanosecond laser (ArF Excimer laser) ablation was employed. This suggests that both the size and position of the NPs can be defined by the nanosecond LA-ICP-MS technique. More importantly, based on the peak-height analyses (PHA) of the measured signal intensity profiles, the present form of the analytes, whether particulate or ionic form, could be defined. This is very important to investigate the transport of the NPs within biological samples. To demonstrate the unique feature of the technique, imaging analyses of Ag and Au NPs, together with distribution analysis of the ionic form, were conducted on onion cells, prepared through dosing experiments of the Ag and Au NPs. There were clear differences in both the increasing rates of the numbers of NPs and the concentration range of the ionic form between the Ag and Au. The data obtained here demonstrate clearly that the LA-ICP-MS technique can become a major analytical tool to obtain both the size distribution and position of NPs from tissue samples.