Imaging of Biological Cells Using Luminescent Silver Nanoparticles.

The application of luminescent silver nanoparticles as imaging agents for neural stem and rat basophilic leukemia cells was demonstrated. The experimental size dependence of the extinction and emission spectra for silver nanoparticles were also studied. The nanoparticles were functionalized with fluorescent glycine dimers.

Surface plasmon as a probe for melting of silver nanoparticles.

The temperature dependence of the surface plasmon energy and bandwidth for silver nanoparticles in the size range 8-30 nm embedded in a silica matrix has been studied using diffuse reflection spectroscopy. The dependence shows a non-monotonic jump-like behaviour indicating a low-temperature size-dependent melting of silver nanoparticles. The melting point decreases with the decrease of the nanoparticle size.