PREPARATION AND STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF QUATSOME-ENCAPSULATED SILVER NANOPARTICLES FOR SERS CHARACTERIZATION OF 2-ETHYLANTHRAQUINONE

Quatsomes are a mixture of CTAB and cholesterol forming a bilayer structure with a high stability that has important medical applications. However, studies addressing the stability of the encapsulated metal nanoparticles with quatsomes as a function of time have not been carried out previously. In this work, we have inserted the anthraquinone 2-ethylanthraquinone (2EAQ) into the quatsomes bilayer because studies combining this molecule with quatsomes has not been reported before and anthraquinones are molecules with important antibacterial, fungicidal, and anticancer properties. 

To get insights about the position and orientation of 2EAQ we have used surface-enhanced Raman scattering. For that, we have developed a specific sample preparation protocol for efficiently encapsulated silver nanoparticles with quatsomes containing 2EAQ. The stability of the prepared nanoparticles has been tested for a few months and this work aims to further address their potentiality as a SERS substrate for 2EAQ detection.

We particularly intend to experimentally determine the mechanisms of 2EAQ insertion into quatsomes and how it disrupts the structural properties of these vesicles. For that, we also studied how the presence of silver nanoparticles and quatsomes disrupts the optical properties of 2EAQ. Therefore, we have characterized these nanoparticles with four techniques: dynamic light scattering, spectrophotometry, fluorescence and SERS. Specifically, we studied the effect of 2EAQ on vesicle size and polydispersity. So, we intend to show some of the preliminary results at this event.

This work was funded by Universidade de São Paulo's Programa Unificado de Bolsas (PUB).