Chitosan as a capping agent: Insights on the stabilization of gold nanoparticles.

A theoretical method based on Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) was applied for the study of the interaction between coarse-grained models of chitosan and gold nanoparticles. These models were used to understand the role of chitosan in the stabilization of gold nanoparticles (5 and 7 nm). In addition, this stabilization was also supported by synthesized and characterized chitosan-gold nanoparticles comparing their stabilities with typical citrate-gold nanoparticles. Finally, the role of chitosan as a capping agent through the steric and electrosteric mechanisms in aqueous media with different pH values was also evaluated.