Nanoparticles embedded in a sponge of polydimethylsiloxane by laser ablation in liquid

This work describes the preparation of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) sponge with pore sizes of about 50 and 900 μm. The sponges synthetized by the sugar template process were embedded with graphene oxide (GO) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) previously produced by laser ablation in liquid. The suspension containing graphene oxide and gold nanoparticles were optically characterized by UV-ViS spectroscopy. The dispersion of the nanoparticles in the PDMS sponges was observed by the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The biocompatibility of virgin PDMS, PDMS filled with graphene oxide, and with graphene oxide and gold nanoparticles was studied for different types of cell cultures. This study has allowed us to confirm that the PDMS sponge is a good matrix for embedding AuNPs and has highlighted as the presence of GO hinders the aggregation of AuNPs avoiding the use of surfactant and allowing their use in biological applications.