Ricerc@Sapienza

In last decade nanomaterials have been widely explored in developing field of nanotechnology and nanomedicine. The size-dependent properties of nanomaterials make them particularly suited for advanced applications and a fine tuning of the physical-chemical characteristics is possible by a proper choice of the material, size and surface functionalization.
The objective of this study will be focused on the study of functionalized metal nanoparticles (MNPs) and nanostructured polymers (NPOLY), in particular for drug delivery and for applications in nuclear medicine and radiotherapy. In this framework, this project will be also focused on the development of detector systems for in vivo real-time radiation detection. One of such detectors is at the level of first clinical tests and is proposed to evolve to cover also dosimetry for Targeted Radio-Therapy. The project will be developed thanks to the multi-disciplinary skills of the participants, ranging from inorganic chemistry, physics, biophotonics and optoelectronics.
MNPs (M = Au, Ag) will be prepared by wet chemical reduction in the presence of different thiols and NPOLY will be prepared with radical polymerization in emulsion conditions, starting from vinyl monomers. Selected dyes, drugs and bioactive agents will be immobilized onto the MNPs and NPOLY surfaces. In particular, polymeric MNPs and NPOLY will be allowed to interact with Y3+ salt containing a source of Yttrium-89 as a model for Yttrium-90 a ß- emitting radioisotope. This specific target has been selected in the framework of a well assessed collaboration on radio-guided surgery.
MNPs and NPOLY and their derivatives will be deeply characterized to obtain information on composition, surface functionality and structure-property relationship. Optothermal and photoacoustic spectroscopies will be used to have spatial information about the optical absorption for local heating, fundamental starting point for biophotonics and nanomedicine studies.