Functionality of Nonfunctional Diluent Ligands within Bicomponent Layers on Nanoparticles

The selective binding of nanoparticles to a specific entity is highly important for building assembly based superstructures and detecting various biomarkers and targets. Such type of binding can only be achieved by controlling the particle surface properties. Herein, we demonstrate the construction of a solid/liquid interfacial layer comprising multiple components on nanoparticle surfaces in order to obtain the desired binding properties. In addition to the actual binding components, the chemical structures of nonfunctional diluent ligands play a significant role in determining the overall binding properties of the nanoparticles. We also evaluated the binding properties of the nanoparticles coated with multiple components and optimized them by varying the interfacial coating conditions. Gold nanoparticles and single-stranded oligonucleotides are chosen as the core nanoparticles and coating functional ligands for model system, respectively, and examined in the presence of various chemical and biological diluents.