Abstract
This review (with 106 references) summarizes the latest progress in the synthesis, properties and biomedical applications of gold nanotubes (AuNTs). Following an introduction into the field, a first large section covers two popular AuNTs synthesis methods. The hard template method introduces anodic alumina oxide template (AAO) and track-etched membranes (TeMs), while the sacrificial template method based on galvanic replacement introduces bimetallic, trimetallic AuNTs and AuNT-semiconductor hybrid materials. Then, the factors affecting the morphology of AuNTs are discussed. The next section covers their unique surface plasmon resonance (SPR), surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and their catalytic properties. This is followed by overviews on the applications of AuNTs in biosensors, protein transportation, photothermal therapy and imaging. Several tables are presented that give an overview on the wealth of synthetic methods, morphology factors and biological application. A concluding section summarizes the current status, addresses current challenges and gives an outlook on potential applications of AuNTs in biochemical detection and drug delivery.
Graphical abstract
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Iijima S (1991) Helical microtubes of graphite carbon. Nature 354(6348):56–58
Dreaden EC, Alkilany AM, Huang X, Murphy CJ, El-Sayed MA (2012) The golden age: gold nanoparticles for biomedicine. Chem Soc Rev 41(7):2740–2779
Luo P, Liu Y, Xia Y, Xu H, Xie G (2014) Aptamer biosensor for sensitive detection of toxin a of Clostridium difficile using gold nanoparticles synthesized by Bacillus stearothermophilus. Biosens Bioelectron 54:217–221
Wang Y, Black KCL, Luehmann H, Li W, Zhang Y, Cai X, Wan D, Liu S-Y, Li M, Kim P, Li Z-Y, Wang LV, Liu Y, Xia Y (2013) Comparison study of gold Nanohexapods, Nanorods, and Nanocages for Photothermal Cancer treatment. ACS Nano 7(3):2068–2077
Huang L, Zou J, Ye JY, Zhou ZY, Lin Z, Kang X, Jain PK, Chen S (2019) Synergy between Plasmonic and Electrocatalytic activation of methanol oxidation on palladium–silver alloy nanotubes. Angew Chem Int Ed 58(26):8794–8798
Liu J, Detrembleur C, De Pauw-Gillet MC, Mornet S, Jerome C, Duguet E (2015) Gold nanorods coated with mesoporous silica shell as drug delivery system for remote near infrared light-activated release and potential phototherapy. Small 11(19):2323–2332
Wang JZG, You M (2012) Assembly of Aptamer switch probes and photosensitizer on gold Nanorods for targeted photothermal and photodynamic cancer therapy. ACS Nano 6(6):5070–5077
Zierold R, Nielsch K (2011) Tailor-made, magnetic nanotubes by template-directed atomic layer deposition. ECS Trans 41(2):111–121
Bi Y, Lu G (2008) Controlled synthesis of pentagonal gold nanotubes at room temperature. Nanotechnology 19(27):275306
Kohli P, Wharton JE, Braide O, Martin CR (2004) Template synthesis of gold nanotubes in an anodic alumina membrane. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 4(6):605–610
Chen J, Wiley BJ, Xia Y (2007) One-dimensional nanostructures of metals: large-scale synthesis and some potential applications. Langmuir 23(8):4120–4129
Sun Y, Mayers BT, Xia Y (2002) Template-engaged replacement reaction: a one-step approach to the large-scale synthesis of metal nanostructures with hollow interiors. Nano Lett 2(5):481–485
Through N (2002) Large-scale synthesis of uniform silver. Adv Mater 11:833–837
Zhu J (2009) Composition-dependent plasmon shift in Au-Ag alloy nanotubes: effect of local field distribution. J Phys Chem C 113(8):3164–3167
Ye S, Marston G, McLaughlan JR, Sigle DO, Ingram N, Freear S, Baumberg JJ, Bushby RJ, Markham AF, Critchley K, Coletta PL, Evans SD (2015) Engineering gold nanotubes with controlled length and near-infrared absorption for theranostic applications. Adv Funct Mater 25(14):2117–2127
Mashentseva A, Borgekov D, Kislitsin S, Zdorovets M, Migunova A (2015) Comparative catalytic activity of PET track-etched membranes with embedded silver and gold nanotubes. Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res, Sect B 365:70–74
Wirtz M, Parker M, Kobayashi Y, Martin CR (2002) Template-synthesized nanotubes for chemical separations and analysis. Chem Eur J 8(16):3572–3578
Chen A, Ding Y, Yang Z, Yang S (2015) Constructing heterostructure on highly roughened caterpillar-like gold nanotubes with cuprous oxide grains for ultrasensitive and stable nonenzymatic glucose sensor. Biosens Bioelectron 74:967–973
Costa JCS, Corio P, Rossi LM (2015) Catalytic oxidation of cinnamyl alcohol using Au-Ag nanotubes investigated by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Nanoscale 7(18):8536–8543
Ye S, Marston G, Markham AF, Louise Coletta P, Evans SD (2019) Developing gold nanotubes as photoacoustic contrast agents. J Phys Conf Ser 1151:012018
Ma C, Han R, Qi S, Yeung ES (2012) Selective transport of single protein molecules inside gold nanotubes. J Chromatogr A 1238:11–14
Li HH, Yu SH (2019) Recent advances on controlled synthesis and engineering of hollow alloyed nanotubes for Electrocatalysis. Adv Mater 31(38):e1803503
Dong W, Dong H, Wang Z, Zhan P, Yu Z, Zhao X, Zhu Y, Ming N (2006) Ordered array of gold nanoshells interconnected with gold nanotubes fabricated by double templating. Adv Mater 18(6):755–759
Walker SA, Zasadzinski JA, Glinka C, Nicol J, Margolese D, Stucky GD, Chmelka BF (1995) Cooperative Organization of Inorganic-Surfactant and Biomimetic Assemblies. Science 267(5201):1138–1143
Qian XF, Yin J, Feng S, Liu SH, Zhu ZK (2001) Preparation and characterization of polyvinylpyrrolidone films containing silver sulfide nanoparticles. J Mater Chem 11(10):2504–2506
AlMawlawi D, Coombs N, Moskovits M (1991) Magnetic properties of Fe deposited into anodic aluminum oxide pores as a function of particle size. J Appl Phys 70(8):4421–4425
Zhang X, Wang H, Bourgeois L, Pan R, Zhao D, Webley PA (2008) Direct electrodeposition of gold nanotube arrays for sensing applications. J Mater Chem 18(4):463–467
Bridges CR, DiCarmine PM, Seferos DS (2012) Gold nanotubes as sensitive, solution-Suspendable refractive index reporters. Chem Mater 24(6):963–965
Al-Kaysi RO, Ghaddar TH, Guirado G (2009) Fabrication of one-dimensional organic nanostructures using anodic aluminum oxide templates. J Nanomater 2009:7
McPhillips J, Murphy A, Jonsson MP, Hendren WR, Atkinson R, Höök F, Zayats AV, Pollard RJ (2010) High-performance biosensing using arrays of plasmonic nanotubes. ACS Nano 4(4):2210–2216
Murphy A, McPhillips J, Hendren W, McClatchey C, Atkinson R, Wurtz G, Zayats AV, Pollard RJ (2011) The controlled fabrication and geometry tunable optics of gold nanotube arrays. Nanotechnology 22(4):045705
Hendren WR, Murphy A, Evans P, O’Connor D, Wurtz GA, Zayats AV, Atkinson R, Pollard RJ (2008) Fabrication and optical properties of gold nanotube arrays. J Phys Condens Matter 20(36):362203
Tian T, Dong J, Xu J (2016) Direct electrodeposition of highly ordered gold nanotube arrays for use in non-enzymatic amperometric sensing of glucose. Microchim Acta 183(6):1925–1932
Yang G, Yang X, Yang C, Yang Y (2011) A reagentless amperometric immunosensor for human chorionic gonadotrophin based on a gold nanotube arrays electrode. Colloids Surf A Physicochem Eng Asp 389(1–3):195–200
Yang G, Chen Y, Li L, Yang Y (2011) Direct electrochemical determination of morphine on a novel gold nanotube arrays electrode. Clin Chim Acta 412(17–18):1544–1549
Yang G, Li L, Jiang J, Yang Y (2012) Direct electrodeposition of gold nanotube arrays of rough and porous wall by cyclic voltammetry and its applications of simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid and uric acid. Mater Sci Eng C 32(6):1323–1330
Shariati M, Ghorbani M, Sasanpour P, Karimizefreh A (2019) An ultrasensitive label free human papilloma virus DNA biosensor using gold nanotubes based on nanoporous polycarbonate in electrical alignment. Anal Chim Acta 1048:31–41
Bridges CR, DiCarmine PM, Fokina A, Huesmann D, Seferos DS (2013) Synthesis of gold nanotubes with variable wall thicknesses. J Mater Chem A 1(4):1127–1133
Fleischer RL, Buford Price P, Walker RW (1975) Nuclear tracks in solids: principles and applications. University of California Press, Berkeley 40 (6):697
Fink D, Chandra A, Alegaonkar P, Berdinsky A, Petrov A, Sinha D (2007) Nanoclusters and nanotubes for swift ion track technology. Radiat Eff Defects Solids 162(3–4):151–156
Mashentseva AA, Korolkov IV, Yeszhanov AB, Zdorovets MV, Russakova AV (2019) The application of composite ion track membranes with embedded gold nanotubes in the reaction of aminomethylation of acetophenone. Mater Res Express 6(11):115022
Bahari Mollamahalle Y, Ghorbani M, Dolati A (2012) Electrodeposition of long gold nanotubes in polycarbonate templates as highly sensitive 3D nanoelectrode ensembles. Electrochim Acta 75:157–163
Wang HW, Shieh CF, Chen HY, Shiu WC, Russo B, Cao G (2006) Standing [111] gold nanotube to nanorod arrays via template growth. Nanotechnology 17(10):2689–2694
Barreca D, Gasparotto A, Maragno C, Tondello E (2005) Synthesis of gold nanotubes by sputtering of gold into porous materials. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 5(11):1883–1886
Mollamahale YB, Ghorbani M, Ghalkhani M, Vossoughi M, Dolati A (2013) Highly sensitive 3D gold nanotube ensembles: application to electrochemical determination of metronidazole. Electrochim Acta 106:288–292
Baker LA, Jin P, Martin CR (2005) Biomaterials and biotechnologies based on nanotube membranes. Crit Rev Solid State Mater Sci 30(4):183–205
Pyo M, Joo J, Youn SJ (2007) Simultaneous control of Au nanotube lengths and pore sizes with a single kind of polycarbonate membrane via interfacial deposition at the air/water interface. Bull Kor Chem Soc 28(8):1285–1288
Tao M, Li X, Wu Z, Wang M, Hua M, Yang Y (2011) The preparation of label-free electrochemical immunosensor based on the Pt-Au alloy nanotube array for detection of human chorionic gonadotrophin. Clin Chim Acta 412(7–8):550–555
Siwy Z, Trofin L, Kohli P, Baker LA, Trautmann C, Martin CR (2005) Protein biosensors 'based on biofunctionalized conical gold nanotubes. J Am Chem Soc 127(14):5000–5001
Sun Y, Xia Y (2004) Multiple-walled nanotubes made of metals. Adv Mater 16(3):264–268
Luo M, Zhou M, Da Silva RR, Tao J, Figueroa-Cosme L, Gilroy KD, Peng HC, He Z, Xia Y (2017) Pentatwinned cu nanowires with ultrathin diameters below 20 nm and their use as templates for the synthesis of au-based nanotubes. ChemNanoMat 3(3):190–195
Kim HW, Lee JW, Kebede MA, Kim HS, Srinivasa B, Kong MH, Lee C (2008) Fabrication of gold nanotubes from removable MgO nanowires templates. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 8(11):5715–5719
Ballabh R, Nara S (2015) Template based synthesis of gold nanotubes using biologically synthesized gold nanoparticles. Indian J Exp Biol 53(12):828–833
Lu MY, Chang YC, Chen LJ (2006) Synthesis of Au nanotubes with SiOx nanowires as sacrificial templates. J Vac Sci Technol A 24(4):1336–1339
Schwartzberg AM, Olson TY, Talley CE, Zhang JZ (2007) Gold nanotubes synthesized via magnetic alignment of cobalt nanoparticles as templates. J Phys Chem C 111(44):16080–16082
Hunyadi SE, Murphy CJ (2006) Bimetallic silver-gold nanowires: fabrication and use in surface-enhanced Raman scattering. J Mater Chem 16(40):3929–3935
Zhu H, Chen H, Wang J, Li Q (2013) Fabrication of Au nanotube arrays and their plasmonic properties. Nanoscale 5(9):3742–3746
Sun XM, Li YD (2005) Cylindrical silver nanowires: preparation, structure, and optical properties. Adv Mater 17(21):2626–2630
El Mel AA, Chettab M, Gautron E, Chauvin A, Humbert B, Mevellec JY, Delacote C, Thiry D, Stephant N, Ding J, Du K, Choi CH, Tessier PY (2016) Galvanic replacement reaction: a route to highly ordered bimetallic nanotubes. J Phys Chem C 120(31):17652–17659
Sun Y (2010) Silver nanowires - unique templates for functional nanostructures. Nanoscale 2(9):1626–1642
Gu X, Cong X, Ding Y (2010) Platinum-decorated Au porous nanotubes as highly efficient catalysts for formic acid electro-oxidation. ChemPhysChem 11(4):841–846
Sun H, Guo X, Ye W, Kou S, Yang J (2016) Charge transfer accelerates galvanic replacement for PtAgAu nanotubes with enhanced catalytic activity. Nano Res 9(4):1173–1181
Guan S, Fu X, Tang Y, Peng Z (2017) AuAg@CdS double-walled nanotubes: synthesis and nonlinear absorption properties. Nanoscale 9(29):10277–10284
Guan S, Fu X, Tang Y, Peng Z (2017) Synthesis and photoeletrochemical performance of AuAg@CdS double-walled nanotubes. Chem Phys Lett 682:128–132
Kundu S, Patra A (2017) Nanoscale strategies for light harvesting. Chem Rev 117(2):712–757
Wiley B, Herricks T, Sun Y, Xia Y Polyol synthesis of silver nanoparticles: use of chloride and oxygen to promote the formation of single-crystal, truncated cubes and tetrahedrons. Nano Lett 4(10):2057–2057
Rodrigues TS, Silva AGM, Moura ABL, Geonmonond RS, Camargo PHC (2016) AgAu nanotubes: investigating the effect of surface morphologies and optical properties over applications in catalysis and photocatalysis. J Braz Chem Soc 28(9):1630–1638
Sun Y, Xia Y (2004) Mechanistic study on the replacement reaction between silver nanostructures and chloroauric acid in aqueous medium. J Am Chem Soc 126(12):3892–3901
Skrabalak SE, Au L, Li X, Xia Y (2007) Facile synthesis of Ag nanocubes and Au nanocages. Nat Protoc 2(9):2182–2190
Gu X, Xu L, Tian F, Ding Y (2009) Au-Ag alloy nanoporous nanotubes. Nano Res 2(5):386–393
Sun Y, Mayers B, Xia Y (2003) Metal nanostructures with hollow interiors. Adv Mater 15(78):641–646
Margalit S, Avraham S, Shahal T, Michaeli Y, Gilat N, Magod P, Caspi M, Loewenstein S, Lahat G, Friedmann-Morvinski D, Kariv R, Rosin-Arbesfeld R, Zirkin S, Ebenstein Y (2019) 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine as a clinical biomarker: fluorescence-based assay for high-throughput epigenetic quantification in human tissues. Int J Cancer 146(1):115–122
Yang A, Bi J, Yang S, Zhang J, Chen A, Liang S (2014) Highly surface-roughened caterpillar-like Au/Ag nanotubes for sensitive and reproducible substrates for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. RSC Adv 4(86):45856–45861
Yin X, Teradal NL, Jelinek R (2017) Porous gold nanotubes for enhanced methanol oxidation catalysis. ChemistrySelect 2(34):10961–10964
Zhou Z, Zhang F, Wang J, Zhang X, Xu W, Wu R, Liao L, Wang X, Wei J (2019) L-cysteine modified ZnO: small change while great progress. Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl 103:109818
Shao K, Zhang C, Ye S, Cai K, Wu L, Wang B, Zou C, Lu Z, Han H (2017) Near–infrared electrochemiluminesence biosensor for high sensitive detection of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus based on cyclodextrin-grafted porous Au/PtAu nanotube. Sensors Actuators B Chem 240:586–594
Ocwieja M, Barbasz A, Walas S, Roman M, Paluszkiewicz C (2017) Physicochemical properties and cytotoxicity of cysteine-functionalized silver nanoparticles. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 160:429–437
Liu H, Li Z, Yan Y, Zhao J, Wang Y (2019) Chiroptical study of bimetal-cysteine hybrid composite: interaction between cysteine and Au/Ag alloyed nanotubes. Nanoscale 11(45):21990–21998
Zhu J (2007) Theoretical study of the light scattering from gold nanotubes: effects of wall thickness. Mater Sci Eng 454:685–689
Zhao S, Zhu J (2017) The effect of local dielectric environment on the resonance light scattering of Au–Ag bimetallic nanotube. Appl Phys A 123(12):1–9
Velichko EA (2014) Plasmon resonances in the scattering and absorption of light by a circular gold nanotube. 2014 IEEE 34th International Scientific Conference on Electronics and Nanotechnology, ELNANO 2014 - Conference Proceedings:42–45
Xu H, Li H, Liu Z, Xie S, Zhou X, Wu J (2011) Adjustable plasmon resonance in the coaxial gold nanotubes. Solid State Commun 151(10):759–762
Costa JCS, Corio P, Camargo PHC (2012) Silver-gold nanotubes containing hot spots on their surface: facile synthesis and surface-enhanced Raman scattering investigations. RSC Adv 2(26):9801–9804
Choi Y, Baker LA, Hillebrenner H, Martin CR (2006) Biosensing with conically shaped nanopores and nanotubes. Phys Chem Chem Phys 8(43):4976–4988
Zhai J, Cui H, Yang R (1997) DNA based biosensors. Biotechnol Adv 15(1):43–58
McCooey A (2015) High sensitivity nucleic acid detection using metal nanowires and nanotubes. phD thesis, Dublin city university
WHO global tuberculosis report (2014) https://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_report/archive/en/
Torati SR, Reddy V, Yoon SS, Kim C (2016) Electrochemical biosensor for mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA detection based on gold nanotubes array electrode platform. Biosens Bioelectron 78:483–488
Li X, Cao L, Zhang Y, Yan P, Kirk DW (2017) Fabrication and modeling of an ultrasensitive label free impedimetric immunosensor for Aflatoxin B1 based on protein a self-assembly modified gold 3D nanotube electrode ensembles. Electrochim Acta 247:1052–1059
Bhakta SA, Evans E, Benavidez TE, Garcia CD (2015) Protein adsorption onto nanomaterials for the development of biosensors and analytical devices: a review. Anal Chim Acta 872:7–25
Sexton LT, Horne LP, Sherrill SA, Bishop GW, Baker LA, Martin CR (2007) Resistive-pulse studies of proteins and protein/antibody complexes using a conical nanotube sensor. J Am Chem Soc 129(43):13144–13152
Movileanu L, Howorka S, Braha O, Bayley H (2000) Detecting protein analytes that modulate transmembrane movement of a polymer chain within a single protein pore. Nat Biotechnol 18(10):1091–1095
Björck L, Kronvall GP (1984) Purification and some properties of streptococcal protein G, a novel IgG-binding reagent. J Immunol 133(2):969–974
Poli MA, Victor RR, John FH, Gerald AM Detection of ricin by colorimetric and chemiluminescence ELISA. Toxicon Off J Int Soc Toxinol 32(11):0–1377
Hong P, Li W, Li J (2012) Applications of aptasensors in clinical diagnostics. Sensors 12(2):1181–1193
Tang P, Liu Y, Liu Y, Meng H, Liu Z, Li K, Wu D (2019) Thermochromism-induced temperature self-regulation and alternating photothermal nanohelix clusters for synergistic tumor chemo/photothermal therapy. Biomaterials 188:12–23
Jabeen F, Najam-ul-Haq M, Javeed R, Huck CW, Bonn GK (2014) Au-nanomaterials as a superior choice for near-infrared photothermal therapy. Molecules 19(12):20580–20593
Hu Y, Liu X, Cai Z, Zhang H, Gao H, He W, Wu P, Cai C, Zhu J-J, Yan Z (2018) Enhancing the plasmon resonance absorption of multibranched gold nanoparticles in the near-infrared region for photothermal cancer therapy: theoretical predictions and experimental verification. Chem Mater 31(2):471–482
Hainfeld JF, Lin L, Slatkin DN, Avraham Dilmanian F, Vadas TM, Smilowitz HM (2014) Gold nanoparticle hyperthermia reduces radiotherapy dose. Nanomedicine 10(8):1609–1617
Maji SK, Sreejith S, Joseph J, Lin M, He T, Tong Y, Sun H, Yu SW-K, Zhao Y (2014) Upconversion nanoparticles as a contrast agent for photoacoustic imaging in live mice. Adv Mater 26(32):5633–5638
Huang X, Neretina S, El-Sayed MA (2010) Gold nanorods: from synthesis and properties to biological and biomedical applications. Adv Mater 21(48):4880–4910
Bardhan R, Lal S, Joshi A, Halas NJ (2011) Theranostic Nanoshells: from probe design to imaging and treatment of Cancer. Acc Chem Res 44(10):936–946
Cai Y, Zhou M, Zeng M, Zhang C, Feng YP (2011) Adsorbate and defect effects on electronic and transport properties of gold nanotubes. Nanotechnology 22(21):215702
Sun Y, Xia Y (2011) Synthesis of gold nanoshells and their use in sensing applications MRS proceedings 776
Wang P, Nasir ME, Krasavin AV, Dickson W, Jiang Y, Zayats AV (2019) Plasmonic metamaterials for nanochemistry and sensing. Acc Chem Res 52:3018–3028
Lopatynskyi AM, Malymon YO, Lytvyn VK, Mogylnyi IV, Rachkov AE, Soldatkin AP, Chegel VI (2017) Solid and hollow gold nanostructures for Nanomedicine: comparison of photothermal properties. Plasmonics 13(5):1659–1669
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing of interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Liu, Yl., Zhu, J., Weng, Gj. et al. Gold nanotubes: synthesis, properties and biomedical applications. Microchim Acta 187, 612 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-020-04460-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-020-04460-y