Selective heating of multiple nanoparticles as a new strategy for controlled release applications

Utilization of nanoparticle heating for controlled release application was proposed and its feasibility was explored. The proposed method was formulated by realizing that biomolecule - nanoparticle conjugation is heat sensitive and both their dimensions are in the same length scale. This exploration centered on showing the proof of concept that conjugated biomolecules can be released from the nanoparticle surface in a controlled manner by heating the nanoparticles via external energy sources. The selectivity of the multiple releases was also investigated. Two mechanisms of nanoparticle heating were explored. The AC magnetic heating of magnetic nanoparticles has limitation due to its low-power energy delivered to nanoparticles. The irradiation of femtosecond laser pulses on the absorbing gold nanorods provides the answer to this limitation due to the very high-power of energy delivery through these ultrashort pulses. We developed gold nanorod surface customization technique to enable DNA - nanorod conjugation, thus turning gold nanorods into nanoscale carriers. Pulsed laser excitation in resonance with their absorption peaks can heat and melt the nanorods. This is exploitable for controlling the release of DNA oligonucleotides conjugated onto the nanorod surface. Nanorods with different aspect ratios absorb light at different wavelengths and thus can be excited independently. We have successfully demonstrated the selective releases of two distinct DNA oligonucleotides, where each is released from a different type of nanorod.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Chemical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Wijaya, Andy

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Kimberly Hamad-Schifferli and Paula T. Hammond.

• Chemical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/51622

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/51622