Synthesis of Synchrotron Radiation-induced Gold Nanoparticles as Radiosensitizer in Radiotherapy

This study investigated the feasibility of synthesizing GNPs using synchrotron radiation X-ray for use as a radiosensitizer in radiotherapy, and examined the morphology of the GNPs. Different concentration ratios of 4-mM gold precursor aqueous solution and 4-mM NaHCO3 were mixed. This gold precursor aqueous solution was continuously irradiated with synchrotron radiation in the 4B X-ray microdiffraction beamline of Pohang Light Source (PLS)-II in Korea. The SEM, EDS, TEM, and XRD spectra of the GNPs synthesized using the synchrotron radiation were investigated. The GNPs synthesized using the synchrotron radiation were nanocrystals predominantly in the (111) direction of the face-centered cubic structure. We found that the shape of the gold nanoparticles was icosahedron at the molar concentrations of 0.25 mM:0.25 mM and 0.5 mM:0.5 mM mixed with 4 mM HAuCl4·3H2O and 4 mM NaHCO3 solutions.