Nanomaterials are at the leading edge of the rapidly developing field of nanotechnology. Their unique size-dependent properties make them in some cases indispensable for advanced applications. The objective of this study will be focused on the synthesis of functionalized metal nanoparticles (MNPs) and nanostructured polymers (NPOLY), their characterization and applicative studies in optoelectronics and nanobiotechnologies. The project will be developed thanks to the multi-disciplinary skills of the participants, ranging from inorganic chemistry, physics, biophotonics and optoelectronics.
In the first step, MNPs (M = Au, Ag, Pt, Pd) will be prepared on purpose in the presence of different ligands. A wet chemical procedure will be applied to obtain stable colloidal suspensions. Selected dyes, drugs and bioactive agents will be immobilized onto the MNPs surface. Then the synthesis of NPOLY will be carried out in emulsion conditions, in the presence of vinylic monomers bearing functional pending groups, such as acrylic acid (AA) and methylmethacrylate (MMA) and different bioactive agents will be introduced during the synthesis. Dose profiling studies and a Monte Carlo simulation approach will be used to study the targeted delivery of bioactive molecules.
In the second step, MNPs and NPOLY will be deeply characterized in order to obtain information on composition, surface functionality and structure-property relationship. The use of different spectroscopic techniques (FTIR, UV-Vis, PL, NMR), microscopies (SEM, TEM, AFM) together with Light Scattering and Zeta Potential measurements will allow an accurate characterization of the nanoparticles, the determination of the surface morphology and the assessment of the hydrodynamic and electrical parameters. Moreover, optothermal and photoacoustic spectroscopies will be used to have spatial information about the optical absorption responsible for local heating, fundamental starting point for biophotonics studies.
