Abstract
Nanotechnology has become a trending area in science and has made great advances with the development of functional, engineered nanoparticles. Various metal nanoparticles have been widely exploited for a wide range of medical applications. Among them, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are widely reported to guide an impressive resurgence and are highly remarkable. AuNPs, with their multiple, unique functional properties, and easy of synthesis, have attracted extensive attention. Their intrinsic features (optics, electronics, and physicochemical characteristics) can be altered by changing the characterization of the nanoparticles, such as shape, size and aspect ratio. They can be applied to a wide range of medical applications, including drug and gene delivery, photothermal therapy (PTT), photodynamic therapy (PDT) and radiation therapy (RT), diagnosis, X-ray imaging, computed tomography (CT) and other biological activities. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no comprehensive review that summarized the applications of AuNPs in the medical field. Therefore, in this article we systematically review the methods of synthesis, the modification and characterization techniques of AuNPs, medical applications, and some biological activities of AuNPs, to provide a reference for future studies.
Highlights
Nanomaterials are a novel type of material which has emerged in recent years
The term refers to a material in which at least one dimension, of three-dimensional space, is at the nanometer scale (0.1–100 nm), or is composed of the basic unit, which is approximately equivalent to the size of 10–100 atoms, is closely arranged together (Khan et al, 2017; Tayo, 2017)
In this review, we have summarized the approaches that are available for synthesizing common AuNPs, as well as the techniques that are used to characterize them, based on their unique and diverse properties
Summary
Nanomaterials are a novel type of material which has emerged in recent years. The term refers to a material in which at least one dimension, of three-dimensional space, is at the nanometer scale (0.1–100 nm), or is composed of the basic unit, which is approximately equivalent to the size of 10–100 atoms, is closely arranged together (Khan et al, 2017; Tayo, 2017). Recent seed-mediated synthesis methods are considered very efficient, with respect to precise control of the size and shape of AuNPs. Biological Approach the synthesis of AuNPs by physical and chemical methods gives a high yield and is relatively cheap, there are a few disadvantages which have been reported, such as the use of carcinogenic solvents, the contamination of precursors, and high toxicity (Ramalingam, 2019).
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