Silica Shell/Gold Core Nanoparticles: Correlating Shell Thickness with the Plasmonic Red Shift upon Aggregation

Differences in the wavelengths of the surface plasmon band of gold nanoparticles (AuNP)--before and after particle aggregation--are widely used in bioanalytical assays. However, the gold surfaces in such bioassays can suffer from exchange and desorption of noncovalently bound ligands and from nonspecific adsorption of biomolecules. Silica shells on the surfaces of the gold can extend the available surface chemistries for bioconjugation and …