(544a) Invited Presentation: Carbonaceous Nanoparticles and Their Interactions with Biological Cells

Particles originating from human activities have existed for millennia, e.g., smoke from combustion, but the recent development of industry and combustion-based engine transportation has increased anthropogenic particles pollution. At the same time, technological advancement has also changed the character of these particles, increasing the proportion of nanometer-sized particles --"nanoparticles"-- and expanding the variety of chemical compositions. Indeed, the manipulation of matter at the scale of atoms, "nanotechnology," is creating many new materials with characteristics not always easily predicted from current knowledge.

In this work we report on the interactions of carbon-based nanomaterials (both from combustion and synthetic sources) with biological cells, using atomistic simulations. As engineered nanomaterials, we will focus on carbonaceous quantum dots, which have recently emerged and ignited tremendous research interest. Their favorable characteristics include size- and wavelength-dependent luminescence, resistance to photobleaching, bio-conjugation, and functionalization to produce chiral nanostructures. Carbon-based quantum dots show promise in areas such optoelectronics, catalysis, bioanalysis and drug delivery.