Gold Nanoparticles: Advances in Research and Applications

Gold Nanoparticles: Advances in Research and Applications opens by presenting the properties of gold nanoparticles and the necessity of a thermodynamic investigation. The physics of heat generation and heat transfer by diffusion, convection and radiation are examined, and the effect of thermoplasmonics on the random lasing of nanoparticles is described. Nanoparticles are being incorporated into a variety of devices to improve their performance. Recent advances in applications of the plasmonic effects of nanoparticles, significantly focused on the incorporation of gold nanoparticles to improve solar cell efficiencies, are discussed. The authors go on to investigate the formation of elongated gold nanoparticles, which occurred by laser ablation of gold target in aqueous solutions containing divalent ions. Additionally, the influence of a permanent external magnetic field on generated earlier colloidal solutions of Au nanoparticles is investigated. The penultimate chapter describes the events that lead to gold’s well-deserved reputation as a good catalyst for several reactions, and considers some of the applications and catalytic uses of gold, mostly in the form of nanoparticles. The concluding study explores gold nanoparticles’ applications for the treatment of various forms of cancer, such as adenocarcinoma, melanoma, breast cancer, gastric, laryngeal, lung, oral cancer and prostate cancer. Gold nanoparticles are used in cancer treatment primarily as drug carriers, photosensitizers and radiosensitizers.