The best thing about nanotechnology is that it is
small. The worst thing about nanotechnology is that it is small… very small…
smaller than what a standard light microscope can typically observe. Naturally,
obtaining meaningful information about the structure and morphology of
nanoparticles is very difficult and requires advanced equipment and analysis
techniques. Recently, researchers at University of Sydney (Australia) used
mPEG-PLGA (PolyVivo AK037) from PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com)
to generate nanorods and analyzed these using a combination of atomic force
microscopy and infrared spectroscopy. These nano-analysis techniques allowed the
researchers to measure the various mechanical, structural, and chemical
properties of even a single nanoparticle with incredible precision and accuracy.
This research holds promise to allow for improved characterization of
nanoparticles which will enable better designs and synthesis in the future.
Read more: Khanal, Dipesh, Bokai Zhang, Iqbal Ramzan, Curtis Marcott, Quan Li,
and Wojciech Chrzanowski. "Probing Chemical and Mechanical Nanodomains in
Copolymer Nanorods with Correlative Atomic Force Microscopy—Nano‐correscopy."
Particle & Particle Systems Characterization (2018). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ppsc.201700409
“Abstract: The interplay between size, shape,
mechanical properties, and surface chemistry of nanoparticles orchestrates
cellular internalization, toxicity, circulation time, and biodistribution.
Therefore, the safety of nanoparticles hinges on our ability to quantify
nanoscale physicochemical characteristics. Current characterization tools, due
to their limited resolution, are unable to map these properties correlatively
at nanoscale. An innovative use of atomic force microscopy‐based techniques, namely
nano‐correscopy, overcomes
this limitation and offers multiprobe capability to map mechanical (viscous and
elastic) and chemical domains of nanoparticles correlatively. The strengths of
this approach are demonstrated using polymer composite nanorods: m‐PEG‐PLGA ((m‐PEG–methoxy‐poly (ethylene glycol)‐b‐poly (lactic‐co‐glycolic) acid). Precise
distribution of PLGA (monomers of lactide and glycolide) and poly(ethylene
glycol) (PEG) polymer across nanorods is identified. The hydrophobic lactide
component is found predominantly at the apex, while hydrophilic glycolide and
PEG assembled at the body of the nanorods and correlate with a gradient of
nanomechanical properties. New knowledge of how both nanochemical domains and
nanomechanical properties are distributed across the nanorod will allow
elucidating the interactions of nanorods with the proteins and biomolecules in
the future, which will directly influence the fate of nanorods in vivo and will
guide new synthesis methods.”
