Chapter 6

Growth of CdSe Nanoparticles on Abscisic Acid Nanofibers and their Interactions with HeLa cells

Stephen H. Frayne, Stacey N. Barnaby, Areti Tsiola, Karl R. Fath, Evan M. Smoak and Ipsita A. Banerjee

Abstract

Abscisic Acid (ABA) is a vital phytohormone that regulates plant elongation, fruit ripening and senescence. It also plays an important role in plant responses to environmental stress and pathogens. In this work, self-assembled ABA was utilized as template for the growth of CdSe nanoparticles. The formed assemblies were functionalized with an organic linker (ethylene diamine) to enhance the growth of the CdSe nanoparticles on the surface of the nanofibers. The nanocomposites formed were analyzed by microscopic and spectroscopic methods. It was observed that the formation of quantum dots was promoted under mild conditions, leading to the formation of uniform nanofibers coated with CdSe nanoparticles. Further, the nanocomposites were utilized for targeting HeLa cells. We believe that such nanomaterials may lead to the development of a new family of nanomaterials for bioimaging and cancer cell targeting, as well as a host of optoelectronic applications.

Total Pages: 93-110 (18)

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