Direct Synthesis and Morphological Characterization of Gold-Dendrimer Nanocomposites Prepared Using PAMAM Succinamic Acid Dendrimers: Preliminary Study of the Calcification Potential

Figure 7

TEM and HR-TEM micrographs characteristic for Au-G6-10 at 60 minutes after preparation ((a), (b)) and at 48 hours after preparation ((c), (d)). The general appearance of the sample after 60 minutes contains two types of areas: (a) few spheroidal particles accompanied by numerous metal agglomeration inside clusters of dendrimers (as indicated by white arrows) and (b) preorganization areas with limited number of metal atoms inside dendrimer cages and metal accumulations outside dendrimers (as shown by black arrows). (a1) Detailed view of the marked area from image (a), showing the metal domains accumulated in one dendrimer molecule. (b1) Detailed view of the marked area from panel (b). (b2) Zoomed area from image (b1). (c)-(d) After 48 hours, two types of crystalline phases exist: spheroidal particles and crystalline structures developed through unhindered growth. Inset represents SAED image characteristic for gold (fcc).