Gold-Containing Nanocomposites: A Comprehensive Study of Physical Properties and Biological Activity
摘要
For our research we obtained a composite nanomaterial consisting of Au-containing nanoparticles stabilized in a low-density polyethylene matrix by thermal decomposition of chloroauric acid. An investigation was performed on the characteristics of the resulting composites employing methods of transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and EXAFS. The Au-containing nanoparticles were seen to have an average size of 50 nm, and the particle core has a crystalline structure close to that of bulk Au. An electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) study showed that at low microwave power the EPR line had a virtually Lorentzian shape. At maximum power, though, the line shape differed significantly from the Lorentzian due to wide “wings” presence. The electrophysical properties of the resulting nanocomposites and their dependence on the filler concentration were also investigated. The study definitively established that the synthesized composites with gold-containing nanoparticles were characterized by diamagnetic susceptibility values that are lower than those of unfilled polyethylene, as well as non-zero magnetization values presenting in weak magnetic fields. The composite materials were also studied in terms of their biocidal properties.