Aggregation behaviour of gold nanoparticles in presence of chitosan

Chitosan (CS) is a biocompatible polysaccharide with positive charge that is widely used as a coating agent for negatively charged nanoparticles. However, the types of structures that emerge by combining CS and nanoparticles as well as their behaviour are still poorly understood. In this work, we characterize the nanocomposites formed by gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and CS and study the influence of CS in the expected aggregation process that should experience those nanoparticles under the favourable conditions of low pH and high ionic strength. Thus, at the working CS concentration, we observe the existence of CS structures that quickly trap the AuNPs and avoid the formation of nanoparticle aggregates in environmental conditions that, otherwise, would lead to such an aggregation.