Plasmonic nanoparticles have been increasingly investigated for numerous applications in medicine, sensing, and catalysis. In particular,
gold nanoparticles have been investigated for separations, sensing,
drug/
nucleic acid delivery, and bioimaging. In addition,
silver nanoparticles demonstrate antibacterial activity, resulting in potential application in treatments against microbial
infections,
burns, diabetic
skin ulcers, and medical devices. Here, we describe the facile, parallel synthesis of both
gold and
silver nanoparticles using a small set of poly(amino
ethers), or
PAEs, derived from linear
polyamines, under ambient conditions and in absence of additional
reagents. The kinetics of nanoparticle formation were dependent on PAE concentration and chemical composition. In addition, yields were significantly greater in case of
PAEs when compared to 25 kDa
poly(ethylene imine), which was used as a standard catonic
polymer. Ultraviolet radiation enhanced the kinetics and the yield of both
gold and
silver nanoparticles, likely by means of a coreduction effect. PAE-templated
gold nanoparticles demonstrated the ability to deliver plasmid
DNA, resulting in transgene expression, in 22Rv1 human
prostate cancer and MB49 murine
bladder cancer cell lines. Taken together, our results indicate that chemically diverse poly(amino
ethers) can be employed for rapidly templating the formation of metal nanoparticles under ambient conditions. The simplicity of synthesis and chemical diversity make PAE-templated nanoparticles useful tools for several applications in biotechnology, including
nucleic acid delivery.