Isolation and characterization of trioxyethylene-encapsulated gold nanoclusters functionalized with a single DNA strand

A scalable means of isolating significant quantities of trioxyethylene-encapsulated gold nanoclusters (GNCs) labeled with a single DNA strand is demonstrated. Quantitative characterization of the product is obtained using UV-vis absorbance spectroscopy. These methods of isolation and characterization of singly functionalized GNC-ssDNA conjugates are expected to aid development of nanoscience applications that use DNA molecular recognition for guiding self-assembly.