Modulation of surface bio-functionality by using gold nanostructures on protein repellent surfaces

Abstract

The integration of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) or nanostructures with special optical properties on solid surfaces has become a major research topic in the field of nanobiotechnology in particular for the development of new generation of multifunctional bioanalytical platforms. This has led to considerable research efforts for developing quick and direct nanofabrication methods capable of producing well-ordered 2D nanostructured arrays with tunable morphological, chemical and optical properties. In this paper, we propose a simple and fast nanofabrication method enabling the creation of Au NPs patterns on a non-adhesive and cell repellent plasma-deposited poly(ethyleneoxide) (PEO-like) coating. The immobilization of Au NPs on PEO-like coatings does not require any prior chemical modifications and is achieved by a straightforward and stable self-assembly technique. By varying the size and the concentration of the Au NPs it is possible to control the Au NPs density and spatial distribution on the PEO-like coated surface with direct effects on the bio-functionality of the surface. These nanostructured surfaces have been tested for protein bio-recognition analysis and as a cell culture platform. The developed nanostructured platform has many potential applications in the field of protein-nanoparticle and cell-nanoparticle interaction studies, nanotoxicology and bioengineering.