User:Daniel Catt/Notebook/Protein Biofilms Exploration/2011/06/07

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06.07.2011

Method: Copper(II) Nanoparticles?

Although the goal is to use chloroauric acid to form BSA-conjugated gold nanoparticles, a similar product could be formed using copper(II) ions instead. The reason for the temporary substitution would be economical, because the copper in the form of cupric acetate monohydrate is relatively cheap.

  • BSA solutions:
  1. 10mL of 0.015mM BSA
  2. 10mL of 0.015mM BSA + 10mL of 0.17mM Cu(CH3COO)2·H2O

(The problem with the 'standard' non-cupric sample is that an extra 10mL of water was not added.)

0.17mM Cu(CH3COO)2·H2O<sup
  • Zein solution:

-3g of zein -27mL of 95% ethanol mixed -900μL of glycerol (30% on zein weight)

  • The combination occurred in two separate flasks. 18mL of zein solution was placed in the (+)Cu sample flask, and 1.8mL of BSA-Cu solution was added very slowly while mixing to prevent precipitation. 12mL of zein solution was put in the (-)Cu sample flask and 1.2mL of BSA solution was added slowly while mixing. The (+)Cu solution appeared a robust green algae color, while the other was the standard orange-yellow. On pouring, the former appeared more brown in color.
  • The samples were divided between the 80°C oven and the 37°C incubator. Three gels were poured from the (+)Cu solution, two of which were placed in the oven. Two gels were poured from the (-)Cu solution and they were divided between the two.


The copper solution was prepared experimentally with 1.9965g of Cu(CH3COO)2·H2O into 10mL of water. This would have made a 1M solution if the copper had dissolved. More water was added incrementally to bring the total volume to 60mL, which corresponds to a [Cu(CH3COO)2·H2O] of 0.16666..repeating mM, which is truncated here to the embarrassingly unwieldy 0.17mM.