Surface-engineered nanoporous gold nanoparticles for light-triggered drug release

We studied light-triggered drug releasing performance using surface-engineered nanoporous gold nanoparticles (np-Au NPs). The np-Au NPs were prepared by applying templated pulsed electrochemical deposition for repeated Ag-AgAu nano-segments and subsequent selective Ag phase etching. The resulting np-Au NPs showed characteristic internal porous structure with a gap size of similar to 15 nm. The surface of the np-Au NPs was rationally modified with mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) and mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) to control chemical binding force at interface. The MSA modified np-Au NPs showed the best light-triggered drug releasing performance for doxorubicin compared to those of the MPA modified np-Au and the bare np-Au NPs. From in vivo fluorescence imaging study, we found that the MSA modified np-Au NPs efficiently worked for controlled release of doxorubicin with light initiation in a mouse.