Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.

Non-UMass Amherst users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.

Dissertations that have an embargo placed on them will not be available to anyone until the embargo expires.

Date of Award

9-2010

Access Type

Campus Access

Document type

dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Program

Chemistry

First Advisor

Vincent M. Rotello

Second Advisor

Robert M. Weis

Third Advisor

Jeanne A. Hardy

Subject Categories

Inorganic Chemistry | Organic Chemistry

Abstract

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) hold a great promise for biomedical applications. The inert inorganic core provides a scaffold to hold organic ligands and their payloads, while the diversity of monolayers provide a means to tailor AuNP surface properties for particular purposes. Based on our synthethic approach to ligand fabrication, our group has been able to control the chemical properties of AuNPs at the nanoscale level. These properties have made AuNPs an excellent scaffold for delivery applications. In this dissertation, it has been demonstrated how the properties of monolayers play a crucial role in achieving a desired biological goal. In each case, the monolayer of AuNPs has been tailored using organic synthesis as a strategy to afford stable and biocompatible biological tools. These engineered AuNPs demonstrate numerous biomedical applications, including a controlled release of payload, cellular uptake, gene regulations, cytosolic delivery, and cytotoxicity.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/5675426

Share

COinS