TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, Zhiyang A1 - Li, Y. A1 - Frisch, J. A1 - Bär, M. A1 - Rappich, J. A1 - Kneipp, Janina T1 - In situ surface-enhanced Raman scattering shows ligand-enhanced hot electron harvesting on silver, gold, and copper nanoparticles JF - Journal of Catalysis N2 - Hot carriers (electrons and holes) generated from the decay of localized surface plasmon resonances can take a major role in catalytic reactions on metal nanoparticles. By obtaining surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of p-aminothiophenol as product of the reduction of p-nitrothiophenol by hot electrons, different catalytic activity is revealed here for nanoparticles of silver, gold, and copper. As a main finding, a series of different ligands, comprising halide and non-halide species, are found to enhance product formation in the reduction reaction on nanoparticles of all three metals. A comparison with the standard electrode potentials of the metals with and without the ligands and SERS data obtained at different electrode potential indicate that the higher catalytic activity can be associated with a higher Fermi level, thereby resulting in an improved efficiency of hot carrier generation. The concept of such a ligand-enhanced hot electron reduction provides a way to make light-to-chemical energy conversion more efficient due to improved electron harvesting. KW - Ligands KW - Hot electrons KW - SERS KW - p-Nitrothiophenol KW - p-Aminothiophenol PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2020.01.006 VL - 383 SP - 153 EP - 159 PB - Elsevier Inc. CY - Amsterdam, NL AN - OPUS4-50626 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Drescher, D. A1 - Büchner, T. A1 - Schrade, P. A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Werner, S. A1 - Guttmann, P. A1 - Bachmann, S. A1 - Kneipp, J. T1 - Influence of Nuclear Localization Sequences on the Intracellular Fate of Gold Nanoparticles JF - ACS Nano N2 - Directing nanoparticles to the nucleus by attachment of nuclear localization sequences (NLS) is an aim in many applications. Gold nanoparticles modified with two different NLS were studied while crossing barriers of intact cells, including uptake, endosomal escape, and nuclear translocation. By imaging of the nanoparticles and by characterization of their molecular interactions with surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), it is shown that nuclear translocation strongly depends on the particular incubation conditions. After an 1 h of incubation followed by a 24 h chase time, 14 nm gold particles carrying an adenoviral NLS are localized in endosomes, in the cytoplasm, and in the nucleus of fibroblast cells. In contrast, the cells display no nanoparticles in the cytoplasm or nucleus when continuously incubated with the nanoparticles for 24 h. The ultrastructural and spectroscopic data indicate different processing of NLS-functionalized particles in endosomes compared to unmodified particles. NLS functionalized nanoparticles form larger intraendosomal aggregates than unmodified gold nanoparticles. SERS spectra of cells with NLS-functionalized gold nanoparticles contain bands assigned to DNA and were clearly different from those with unmodified gold nanoparticles. The different processing in the presence of an NLS is influenced by a continuous exposure of the cells to nanoparticles and an ongoing nanoparticle uptake. This is supported by mass-spectrometry-based quantification that indicates enhanced uptake of NLS-functionalized nanoparticles compared to unmodified particles under the same conditions. The results contribute to the optimization of nanoparticle analysis in cells in a variety of applications, e.g., in theranostics, biotechnology, and bioanalytics. KW - Nanoparticle KW - Laser ablation KW - SERS KW - ICP-MS PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c04925 SN - 1936-086X VL - 15 IS - 9 SP - 14838 EP - 14849 PB - American Chemical Society AN - OPUS4-54047 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -