Preparation of pH-responsive silver nanoparticles by RAFT polymerization

Silver nanoparticles were prepared by chemical reduction of AgNO3 in the presence of the PDMAEMA-b-PPA, which was synthesized by the reversible addition-fragmentation transfer technique. The formation of the silver nanoparticles was determined by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images and UV-Vis absorption spectra. The average size of the silver nanoparticles was shown to 11.4 nm. Particularly, the pH-responsive property of the silver nanoparticle was further observed. It was characterized by the zate potential, the UV-Vis spectra, and TEM images. The results show that the pH-responsive property is attributed to the aggregate of the silver nanoparticles as a function of pH. The characteristic is expected to apply in the nanoscale optical biosensor and biomaterials.