Silver-Cholesterol and Silver-Thiocholesterol Supramolecular Aggregates: Physicochemical Properties and Prospects for Biomedical Applications

Silver nanoparticles (SNPs) stabilized by mesogenic ligands cholesterol (Ch) and thiocholesterol (TCh) are prepared by the borohydride reduction method. The average size of SNPs is (5.5 ± 1.0) nm and (2.7 ± 0.6) nm, respectively. The UV-visible spectrum of both samples shows an intense plasmonic absorption band with a maximum at 430 and 470 nm, respectively. The IR-spectroscopy results confirm the binding of surface silver atoms to the functional groups of the ligands, which are correlated with the previously obtained quantum-chemical calculations of the model systems. It is revealed that the introduction of SNPs in the liquid crystalline matrix extends the temperature range of its existence. SNPs are predominantly present in the samples in the reduced state, which is confirmed by the XRD-spectra. Based on these studies, the possibility of using such hybrid nanosystems as promising drug delivery carriers in targeted delivery systems is demonstrated.