Date Approved

2010

Degree Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department or School

Chemistry

Committee Member

Dr. Timothy Brewer

Committee Member

Dr. Maria Milletti

Committee Member

Dr. Vance Kennedy

Abstract

In this project, we studied the effect of silver and gold nanoparticles of various sizes on the fluorescence properties of tris (2, 2-bipyridyl) dichloro ruthenium (II) hexahydrate (Ru (bpy)3 2+), tryptophan and phenylalanine. For (Ru (bpy)3 2+) absorbed on silver and gold nanoparticles, the fluorescence intensity was quenched and showed a significant increase in the fluorescence lifetimes. These quenched intensities were due to energy transfer processes from the donor (Ru (bpy)3 2+) to the metal nanoparticles. Conversely, tryptophan showed enhanced fluorescence intensities with an increase in the size of the nanoparticles, which may be attributed to the effect of fluorescence resonance energy transfer and the overlap of the emission band of fluorophore with surface plasmon resonance bands of metallic nanoparticles. Phenylalanine, however, showed a decrease in fluorescence intensities in the presence of gold and silver nanoparticles. Thus the observed fluorescence properties of tris (2,2-bipyridyl) dichloro ruthenium (II) hexahydrate, tryptophan, and phenylalanine on silver and gold nanoparticles may be useful for the design of new analytical tools that can be used in the fields of labeling, biosensing, and bioimaging.

Comments

Additional committee member: Dr. Ross Nord

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