Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
alternatives to molecule-based systems, but rather for their new physico-
chemical properties, which confer substantive advantages in cellular and
medical applications.
Depending on their morphology, degree of aglomeration, and local
environment, gold nanoparticles can appear red, blue, or other colors
(Figure 10.3). h ese visible colors rel ect the underlying coherent oscilla-
tions of conduction-band electrons, plasmons, upon irradiation with light
Increasing particle size
Increasing aspect ratio
Figure 10.3
Photographs of aqueous solutions of gold nanospheres (upper panels) and
gold nanorods (lower panels) as a function of increasing dimensions. Corresponding
transmission electron microscopy images of the nanoparticles are shown (all scale bars
100 nm). [1,
h e reference 1 is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
]
