Abstract
With decreasing size of particles to nanometer level, the surface-to-volume ratio is largely increasing as well as the mobility and reactivity, and the dispersion of nanoparticles is dominated by thermodynamic and quantum fluctuation. Compared with bulk-sized materials, nanomaterials show the unique physical properties such as optical property of semiconducting materials by quantum-size effect, quantum-tunneling effect of magnetic materials. Currently, nanotechnology has been rapidly applied to biological systems and many bioconjugate nanomaterials have been developed with new concepts, especially in the fields of separation and detection of biomolecules, and regulation of biological reactions. This article reviews a variety of new applications of these materials for advance of biotechnology, which include biosensing systems using various gold nanoparticles, quantum dots-based fluorescence labeling techniques, and separation/detection of biomolecules using pH- or temperature-sensitive polymers and magnetic particles.
