Enhanced Introduction of Gold Nanoparticles into Vital Acidothiobacillus Ferrooxidans by Carbon Nanotube-Based Microwave Electroporation

José A. Rojas-Chapana, Miguel A. Correa-Duarte, Zhifeng Ren, Krzysztof Kempa, and Michael Giersig

Nano Lett., 2004, 4, 985–988

A novel method was developed to electroporate gram-negative bacteria (Acidothiobacillus ferrooxidans) via multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNTs). CNTs are metallic, ultra strong nanofibers of 10 nm in diameter and many microns long. When placed in an electric field, the CNTs strongly enhance the electric field at their ends by a factor of 10−100, making them ideal for localized electroporation. Addition of CNTs into a solution containing bacteria and gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and subsequent exposure to microwave radiation facilitates a rapid transport of GNPs across the cell wall, without affecting the cell viability.