Synthesis and functionalization of gold nanostars for singlet oxygen production.

Graphical abstract (Singlet oxygen production of GNS, PA@GNS and their combination with MB+ or ALA) Abstract Gold nanostars (GNSs), were synthesized and coated with N -(3-aminopropyl) methacrylamide hydrochloride (PA) in order to functionalize their surfaces by amine groups as well as to investigate the production of singlet oxygen (¹O 2). The singlet oxygen production by the large sized GNSs with multi-tips seems to be superior to that by the small GNSs with fewer tips. In combination with methylene blue (MB⁺), the functionalized GNSs could increase the singlet oxygen production of MB⁺ after 1 h of LED750 irradiation. Only PA-coated GNSs could catalyze the oxidation reaction of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) for the singlet oxygen production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]