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Gold nanostars are being used more regularly in the biosensing field. Despite their useful attributes, there is still a need to optimize aspects of the synthesis and stability. The seedless, synthetic method comprising 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethanesulfonic acid (HEPES) is a facile, rapid method; however, it produces heteromorphic nanostars. The modification of a HEPES method resulted in a silver-assisted, seedless gold nanostar synthesis method. The nanostars resulting from this method were monodispersed, multi-branched and approximately 37 ± 2 nm in diameter. It proved to be a repeatable method that produced homogeneous and robust nanostars. Once functionalized with polyvinylpyrrolidone 10 000, the new nanostars were observed to be stable in various environments such as salt, ionic strength and cell culture medium. In conclusion, the addition of the silver nitrate improved the morphology of the reported HEPES nanostars for the purpose of nanobiosensor development.

Gold nanostars (AuNSs) are seen as promising building blocks for biosensors with potential for easy readouts based on naked-eye and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy detection. We present a seedless synthesis strategy for AuNSs that has the advantages of the seeded methods. The method used ascorbic acid as a reducing agent and silver nitrate as an anisotropic growth control assisting agent. AuNSs with multiple branches and a diameter of 59 nm were produced. They showed good stability when capped with PVP and modified with an enzyme in relatively strong ionic conditions. We investigated their application in plasmonic sensing by modifying them with glucose oxidase and detection of glucose. The AuNSs were found to be a good scaffold for the enzyme, proved to be stable and sensitive as transducers. Thus, the AuNSs showed good promise for further applications in plasmonic biosensing for in vivo biomedical diagnosis.

Gold nanoparticles provide a user-friendly and efficient surface for immobilization of enzymes and proteins. In this paper, we present a novel approach for enzyme bioconjugation to gold nanostars (AuNSs). AuNSs were modified with l -cysteine (Cys) and covalently bound to N -hydroxysulfosuccinimide (sulfo-NHS) activated intermediate glucose oxidase (GOx) to fabricate a stable and sensitive AuNSs–Cys–GOx bioconjugate complex. Such a strategy has the potential for increased attachment affinity without protein adsorption onto the AuNSs surface. Good dispersity in buffer suspension was observed, as well as stability in high ionic environments. Using the AuNSs–Cys–GOx bioconjugates showed greater sensitivity in the measuring of low concentrations of glucose based on plasmonic and colorimetric detection. Such a novel approach for enzyme immobilization can lead to AuNSs–Cys–GOx bioconjugate complexes that can be used as catalytic nanodevices in nanobiosensors based on oxidases in biomedical applications.