An investigation of the impedance properties of gold nanoparticles

Abstract

Over recent years there has been rapid growth in the research being carried out on nanoparticles. In the field of medical imaging, this interest has focussed primarily on the potential for drug delivery and using nanoparticles as a contrast agent, e.g. super-paramagnetic iron-oxide (SPIO) particles in MRI. More recently gold nanoparticles have been used in radiotherapy treatment of tumours to provide dose enhancement by increasing the efficacy of the radiation absorption. Nanoparticles coated with molecules such as glucose or cancer-specific antibodies can be directed towards specific cancer cells in vivo. Such targeting combined with the properties of nanoparticles shows great promise for localised therapy of tumours while leaving neighbouring healthy tissue unaffected. However, on the nanoparticle scale of sub-100nm the weighting of various factors and inter-atomic interactions which determine the bulk properties of a material changes. Many properties of the bulk material no longer hold. As such, each aspect of nanoparticle behaviour must be investigated afresh to explore the full extent of their potential. The property of nanoparticles we wish to explore and characterise is impedance. Bulk gold is well known to be highly conductive. If this were to remain the case on the nanoscale, it could be highly effective as a contrast agent for electrical impedance tomography, particularly when combined with tumour targeting. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.