Gold-platinum alloy nanoparticles in colloidal solutions and biological applications using the same

Abstract

Disclosed is a method of pulsed laser ablation production of gold-platinum AuxPt1-x alloy nanoparticles in a colloidal solution. The colloidal solution of AuxPt1-x alloy nanoparticles is suitable for many biological applications including lateral flow immunoassays and other bio-detections based on optical scattering. The nanoparticles form by fragmentation of the bulk material without evaporation, minimizing oxidation of the nanoparticles. The nanoparticles conjugate with bio-molecules such as protein, antibodies, peptides, RNA oligomers, DNA oligomers, other oligomers, or polymers effectively by passive adsorption. Advantageously the AuxPt1-x alloy nanoparticles have a wide optical extinction spectrum in the visible region, appearing nearly black in both colloidal and dried form. The nanoparticles can be used for labeling bio-molecules and provide a high visual contrast in visual-based bioassays. A combination of the near black color of the AuxPt1-x alloy nanoparticles with the red color of pure Au nanoparticles makes multiplexing bio-detection assays possible.

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