Understanding the mechanism of the energy transfer process from non-plasmonic fluorescence bimetallic nanoparticles to plasmonic gold nanoparticles.

Understanding the fundamentals behind the photophysical response of a fluorescing species in the vicinity of plasmonic nanoparticles is of great interest due to the importance of this event in various applications. The present work has been carried out to throw light on how plasmonic nanoparticles electronically interact with non-plasmonic nanoparticles. Specifically, in this work, the excitation energy transfer (EET) from fluorescence bimetallic silver capped gold (F-AgAu) to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and how this process can be modulated by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) have been investigated at both ensemble average and single particle levels.

Realization of a Model-Free Pathway for Quantum Dot-Protein Interaction Beyond Classical Protein Corona or Protein Complex.

Although in recent times nanoparticles (NPs) are being used in various biological applications, their mechanism of binding interactions still remains hazy. Usually, the binding mechanism is perceived to be mediated through either the protein corona (PC) or protein complex (PCx). Herein, we report that the nanoparticle (NP)-protein interaction can also proceed via a different pathway without forming the commonly observed PC or PCx.

Probing the Interaction of Bovine Serum Albumin with Copper Nanoclusters: Realization of Binding Pathway Different from Protein Corona.

With an aim to understand the interaction mechanism of bovine serum albumin (BSA) with copper nanoclusters (CuNCs), three different types CuNCs having chemically different surface ligands, namely, tannic acid (TA), chitosan, and cysteine (Cys), have been fabricated, and investigations are carried out in the absence and presence of protein (BSA) at ensemble-averaged and single-molecule levels. The CuNCs, capped with different surface ligands, are consciously chosen so that the role of surface ligands in the overall protein-NCs interactions is clearly understood, but, more importantly, to find whether these CuNCs can interact with protein in a new pathway without forming the "protein corona", which otherwise has been observed in relatively larger nanoparticles when they are exposed to biological fluids. Analysis of the data obtained from fluorescence, ζ-potential, and ITC measurements has clearly indicated that the BSA protein in the presence of CuNCs does not attain the binding stoichiometry (BSA/CuNCs > 1) that is required for the formation of "protein corona".