Aggregation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) can be utilized in chemical and biomolecular sensing as a sensitive and easy-to-visualize process. However, interpretation of experimental results requires a clear understanding of physicochemical processes that take place upon multiple interactions between an analyte and AuNPs. In this article, interactions between citrate-stabilized AuNPs and organic compounds bearing various functional groups in an aqueous medium were experimentally and theoretically studied using spectrophotometry of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), conductometry, zeta potential measurements, and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) modeling. As a result, it has been found that organic compounds containing both thiol and amine groups strongly promote the aggregation of AuNPs due to their cooperative functionalities. FDTD modeling has enabled consideration of the light extinction (i.e., LSPR response) properties of nanoparticle aggregates involving single, chain-like, and globular structures. Taking one billion distributions of differently structured aggregates into account, the theoretical light extinction was fitted to that of the experimental result with a root-mean-square deviation of 7%.

A m-acrylamidophenylboronic acid-acrylamide copolymer is assembled by electropolymerization on Ausurfaces (Au-electrodes, Au-quartz crystals or Au-glass slides). The electrolysis time controls the film thickness on the electrodes. Addition of glucose to the copolymer film leads to the ligation of the sugar to the boronic acid sites and results in the swelling of the polymer. Faradaic impedance spectroscopy, chronopotentiometry, surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy (SPR), and microgravimetric quartz-crystal-microbalance measurements (QCM) are employed to characterize the swelling of the polymer film upon the binding of glucose. The swelling rate constant, upon the association of glucose to the polymer film, is estimated to be k sw ) 1.7 × 10 -4 s -1 , while the shrinking rate constant of the polymer film, upon depletion of glucose, is k sh ) 2.3 × 10 -5 s -1 . By following the swelling degree of the polymer film at variable glucose concentrations, the polymer matrix is used as an active medium for the sensing of glucose.

The data on surface enhanced IR absorption (SEIRA) of nucleic acids deposited on a metal substrate were obtained using FTIR in reflectance mode. A 200-400 A thick gold film on a glass plate was the metal substrate. The approximate enhancement factors of the SEIRA for different vibrations of nucleic acids in our experimental conditions were 3-5. The roughness of the Au surface was about 50 A. Application of this method to nucleic acids isolated from tumor cells revealed some possible peculiarities of their structural organization, namely, the appearance of unusual sugar and base conformations, modification of the phosphate backbone, redistribution of the H-bond net, and so forth. This method enhanced a set of the bands, which is impossible to observe in conventional IR geometry. The SEIRA spectra of the RNA from tumor cells showed more sensitivity to the grade of tumor malignancy than the spectra of the DNA. After application of the anticancer drug doxorubicin to sensitive and resistant strains, the DNA isolated from these strains had different spectral features, especially in the region of the phosphate I and II bands. As induced by anticancer drugs, the conformational changes in the DNA from resistant and sensitive cancer strains could be characterized with different levels of structure disordering.

Impedance measurements on ISFET devices are employed to develop new immunosensors. The analysis of the transconductance curves recorded at variable frequencies, upon the formation of antigen-antibody complexes on the ISFET devices, allows determination of the biomaterial film thicknesses. Complementary surface plasmon resonance measurements of analogous biosensor systems, using Au-coated glass slides as support, reveal similar film thicknesses of the biomaterials and comparable detection limits. A dinitrophenyl antigen layer is immobilized on the ISFET gate as a sensing interface for the anti-dinitrophenyl antibody (anti-DNP-Ab). The anti-DNP-Ab is analyzed with a sensitivity that corresponds to 0.1 microg mL(-1). The assembly of the biotinylated anti-anti-DNP-Ab and avidin layers on the base anti-DNP-Ab layer is characterized by impedance measurements. The development of an ISFET-based sensor for the cholera toxin is described. The anti-cholera toxin antibody is immobilized on the ISFET device. The association of the cholera toxin (CT) to the antibody is monitored by the impedance measurements. The detection limit for analyzing CT is 1.0 x 10(-11) M.

The enzyme glucose oxidase (GOx) is reconstituted on a flavin adenin dinucleotide (FAD, 1) cofactor-functionalized Au-nanoparticle (Au-NP), 1.4 nm, and the GOx/Au-NP hybrid is linked to a bulk Au-electrode by a short dithiol, 1,4-benzenedithiol (2), or a long dithiol, 1,9-nonanedithiol (3), monolayer. The reconstituted GOx/Au-NP hybrid system exhibits electrical communication between the enzyme redox cofactor and the Au-NP core. Because the thiol monolayers provide a barrier for electron tunneling, the electron transfer occurring upon the biocatalytic oxidation of glucose results in the Au-NPs charging. The charging of the Au-NPs alters the plasma frequency and the dielectric constant of the Au-NPs, thus leading to the changes of the dielectric constant of the interface. These are reflected in pronounced shifts of the plasmon angle, theta(P), in the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectra. As the biocatalytic charging phenomenon is controlled by the concentration of glucose, the changes in the theta(P) values correlate with the concentration of glucose. The biocatalytic charging process is characterized by following the differential capacitance of the GOx/Au-NP interface and by monitoring the potential generated on the bulk Au-electrode. The charging of the GOx/Au-NPs is also accomplished in the absence of glucose by the application of an external potential on the electrode, that resulted in similar plasmon angle shifts. The results allowed us to estimate the number of electrons stored per Au-NP at variable concentrations of glucose in the presence of the two different thiol linkers.