Kinnear, Calum Burnand, David Clift, Martin J. D. Kilbinger, Andreas F. M. Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara Petri-Fink, Alke 2014 The functionalization of gold nanorods (GNRs) with polymers is essential for both their colloidal stability and biocompatibility. However, a bilayer of the toxic cationic surfactant cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) adsorbed on the nanorods complicates this process. Herein, we report on a strategy for the biocompatible functionalization of GNRs with a hydrophobic polymeric precursor, polyvinyl acetate, which is then transformed into its hydrophilic analogue, polyvinyl alcohol. This polymer was chosen due to its well-established biocompatibility, tunable “stealth” properties, tunable hydrophobicity, and high degree of functionality. The biocompatibility of the functionalized GNRs was tested by exposing them to primary human blood monocyte derived macrophages; the advantages of tunable hydrophobicity were demonstrated with the long-term stable encapsulation of a model hydrophobic drug molecule. application/pdf https://folia.unifr.ch/global/documents/304152 https://folia.unifr.ch/documents/304152/files/pet_pab.pdf https://folia.unifr.ch/documents/304152/files/pet_pab_sm.pdf eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1002/anie.201404100 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess License undefined Angewandte Chemie International Edition. - 2014, vol. 53, no. 46, p. 12613–12617 Colloids Cytotoxicity Gold Nanoparticles Polymers info:eu-repo/classification/udc/54 Polyvinyl alcohol as a biocompatible alternative for the passivation of gold nanorods http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501