The van der Waals (vdW) interaction between nanoparticles (NPs) in general, and especially between metal NPs, may be appreciable, and may result in nanoparticle aggregation. In biofluids, NPs become rapidly surrounded by a protein corona (PC). Here, the vdW and hydration interaction of NPs with and without PC are compared in detail. The focus is on two widely used types of NPs fabricated of SiO2 and Au and possessing weak and strong vdW interactions, respectively. For SiO2, the presence of PC increases the vdW interaction, but it remains relatively weak and insufficient for aggregation. For Au, the presence of PC decreases the vdW interaction, and in the case of small NPs (≤ 40 nm in diameter) it may become insufficient for aggregation as well while the larger NPs can aggregate.

中文翻译：

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没有和有蛋白质电晕的纳米颗粒：范德华和水合相互作用

一般来说，纳米颗粒（NP）之间，特别是金属纳米颗粒之间的范德华（vdW）相互作用可能是明显的，并且可能导致纳米颗粒聚集。在生物流体中，纳米颗粒迅速被蛋白冠 (PC) 包围。在这里，详细比较了含有和不含 PC 的 NP 的 vdW 和水合相互作用。重点是两种广泛使用的由 SiO2 和 Au 制成的纳米粒子，它们分别具有弱和强的 vdW 相互作用。对于 SiO2，PC 的存在增加了 vdW 相互作用，但它仍然相对较弱且不足以聚集。对于 Au，PC 的存在会降低 vdW 相互作用，并且在小 NP（直径≤ 40 nm）的情况下，它也可能不足以聚集，而较大的 NP 可以聚集。