Surface-Engineered Aluminum Nanoflowers for High-Capacity Protein Binding and Selective Cytotoxicity

Aluminum nanoparticles (Al NPs) have emerged as promising alternatives to noble metal nanoparticles due to their abundance, low cost, biodegradability, and tunable localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) across a broad spectral range. Studies indicate that Al NPs exhibit a low cytotoxicity and favorable biodistribution. To further enhance their performance, hierarchical aluminum nanoflowers (Al NFs) were synthesized via the decomposition of H₃Al(1-methylpyrrolidine) in diglyme (G2), using polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a ligand. By optimizing synthesis parameters, smaller-sized AlNF@PEG with a large specific surface area was obtained. The structure and formation mechanism of AlNF@PEG were systematically characterized. Owing to its large surface area and excellent biocompatibility, AlNF@PEG demonstrates potential as a novel nanocarrier for biomedical applications.