A Hybrid Nanoplatform of Graphene Oxide/Nanogold for Plasmonic Sensing and Cellular Applications at the Nanobiointerface

In this study, nanocomposites of spherical gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets were fabricated by a simple one-step reduction method. The characterisation by UV-visible spectroscopy of the plasmonic sensing properties pointed out to a strong interaction between graphene and metal nanoparticles in the hybrid GO-AuNP, as confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance. Moreover, atomic force microscopy analyses demonstrated that the gold nanoparticles were mostly confined to the basal planes of the GO sheets. The response of the nanoassemblies at the biointerface with human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line was investigated in terms of nanotoxicity as well as of total and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production. Confocal microscopy imaging of cellular internalization highlighted the promising potentialities of GO-AuNP nanoplatforms for theranostic (i.e., sensing/imaging + therapy) applications.