Size and shape separation of gold nanoparticles with preparative gel electrophoresis.

Xiaoyou Xu, K Kenneth Caswell, Elizabeth Tucker, Saswat Kabisatpathy, K Lisa Brodhacker, Walter A Scrivens

Index: J. Chromatogr. A. 1167(1) , 35-41, (2007)

Full Text: HTML

Abstract

We employed agarose gel preparative electrophoresis to separate gold nanoparticles based on size, shape, and charge. The separating technique was first demonstrated by size separation of 5 nm, 15 nm, and 20 nm spherical gold nanoclusters; and further evidenced through the purification of crude 15 +/- 2.7 nm nanoclusters to nanoclusters that were 15 +/- 0.4 nm. The ability to separate gold nanoparticles by shape was also shown by the purification of a mixture of gold spheres, plates, and long rods.