Coating gold nanorods (AuNRs) with different materials, such as polymers and graphene-based materials, has improved their biocompatibility. However, these materials have been shown to cause the instability of AuNRs in thermal and culture mediums. In addressing this issue, we herein report the synthesis, thermal and culture medium stability, and photothermal profiling of Polyvidone (PVP)-modified graphene oxide (GO)-coated AuNRs (mGO@AuNRs). The AuNRs, with a size of 40.70 nm × 9.16 nm and absorbing at 820 nm, were coated with PVP, GO, and mGO. The colloidal stability of the nanocomposites was tested in three commonly used cell culture mediums: the Roswell Park Memorial Institute 1640 (RPMI-1640), Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium, (DMEM) and Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) using UV-Vis-NIR and dynamic light scattering. The GO-based nanocomposites were stable compared to PVP@AuNRs and AuNRs in all mediums. The photothermal profiling of mGO@AuNRs showed higher heat production, with the photothermal conversion efficiency of 54.8%, which is higher than the bare AuNRs, GO@AuNRs, and PVP@AuNRs. In addition, the mGO@AuNRs also showed good thermal stability at 70 °C for more than 24 h. These results present the dual coating of PVP and GO as excellent stabilising agents for AuNRs with good photothermal profiling.
Keywords: colloidal stability; gold nanorods; graphene oxide; photothermal; surface modification.