Control of colloid surface chemistry through matrix confinement: facile preparation of stable antibody functionalized silver nanoparticles.

Here we describe a simple yet efficient gel-matrix-assisted preparation method that improves synthetic control over the interface between inorganic nanomaterials and biopolymers and yields stable biofunctionalized silver nanoparticles. Covalent functionalization of the noble metal surface is aided by the confinement of polyethylene glycol acetic acid functionalized silver nanoparticles in thin slabs of a 1% agarose gel. The gel-confined nanoparticles can be transferred between reaction and washing media simply by immersing the gel slab in the solution of interest. The agarose matrix retains nanoparticles but is swiftly penetrated by the antibodies of interest. The antibodies are covalently anchored to the nanoparticles using conventional cross-linking strategies, and the resulting antibody functionalized nanoparticles are recovered from the gel through electroelution. We demonstrate the efficacy of this nanoparticle functionalization approach by labeling specific receptors on cellular surfaces with functionalized silver nanoparticles that are stable under physiological conditions.