Synthesis and Optical Properties of Highly Stabilized Peptide-Coated Gold Nanoparticles

The interaction between peptide and gold nanoparticle surfaces has been increasingly of interest for bionanotechnology applications. To fully understand how to control such interactions, we have studied the optical properties of peptide-modified gold nanoparticles. However, the impacts of peptide binding motif upon the surface characteristics and physicochemical properties of nanoparticles remain poorly understood. Here, we have prepared sodium citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles and coated with peptide IVD (ID3). These nanomaterials were characterized by UV-visible, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and z-potential measurement. The results indicate that gold-peptide interface is generated using ID3 peptide and suggested that the reactivity of peptide is governed by the conformation of the bound peptide on the nanoparticle surface. The peptide-nanoparticle interactions could potentially be used to make specific functionality into the peptide capped nanomaterials.