Objectives

At the border between bulk and molecular (or atomic) form state, the nanoparticles represent a new class of materials, characterized by dimensions in the range of 10^-9 – 10^-7 meters. Their applications range over various fields of industry, agriculture, military and medicine. In view of biology-related or medicinal applications, a decisive factor that needs to be considered is their compatibility with live tissue (organisms). The biocompatibility (as well as their activity) can be enhanced by conjugating the nanoparticles with biomolecules, thus forming bionanoconjugates.

Structure of a bionanoconjugate

The main objective of this project is to elaborate and characterize a new method of producing bionanoconjugates, based on laser ablation of a metal or metal oxide immersed in solution of biomolecules.

The ablation occurs as a result of the interaction between a laser beam and a solid target and represents the passing of a portion of the irradiated volume in the gas phase (ablation plume) in the form of atoms, ions, molecules, fragments, molecular aggregates, micro droplets, etc., depending on target and laser parameters (wavelength, energy, etc.). The material ablated in liquid will agglomerate and form nanoparticles. The surface of the nanoparticles is activated, allowing the interaction with the capping species present in the solution, which will prevent further aggregation, possible for uncoated nanoparticles.

As an example, we will apply this method to obtain gold-cysteine nanoconjugates. This system will be used to understand the importance and influence of the ablation parameters and liquid phase composition on the properties of the produced bionanoconjugates and on the process efficiency.

The combination of different ablated materials with various molecules could yield a virtually unlimited number of bionanoconjugates, in terms of composition, structure, size, making this method very appropriate for the production of bionanoconjugates for different applications. The new materials will be compared with those obtained by classical methods (chemical synthesis).

In this way, we intend to produce nanoparticles with a small size and a narrow size distribution. Special interest will be also accorded to the bionanoconjugates bearing magnetic properties.