Exploiting biosynthetic gold nanoparticles for improving the aqueous solubility of metal-free phthalocyanine as biocompatible PDT agent.

Increasing the limit of dispersion of metal-free phthalocyanine (HPc) in an aqueous medium using biosynthetic gold nanoparticles for photodynamic therapy (PDT) is investigated. Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) are biosynthesized in one step using Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) extract and are characterized by UV/VIS spectrophotometry, Fourier transformer infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The metal-free phthalocyanine is conjugated to the surface of the gold nanoparticles in a side to side regime through the secondary amine groups of HPc.