Evaluation method of organic or bio-conjugation on nanoparticles using imaging of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry

摘要

A method of evaluating conjugation between materials using imaging of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) according to the present invention is carried out by following the steps which comprise, a) forming a spontaneous pattern on a substrate with a mixture comprising nanoparticles and a conjugation material selected from organic, bio or inorganic material, b) obtaining an ion detection pattern from said conjugation material and said nanoparticles, respectively, depending on their position on the substrate by using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, and c) determining whether the conjugation is formed between said conjugation material and said nanoparticles by comparing the ion detection pattern of said conjugation material with the ion detection pattern of said nanoparticles. Said method for evaluating conjugation between two materials according to the present invention can be used for determining whether the conjugation is formed between nanoparticles and an organic, bio or inorganic material. In addition, it can be used for determining whether the conjugation is formed between organic and inorganic materials, inorganic and inorganic material, organic and organic materials or organic and bio materials that are conjugated to nanoparticles, respectively. Further, conjugation level and an amount of conjugated material can be determined both quantitatively and qualitatively, and a progress for forming conjugation can be also determined. Most of all, when multi-step conjugation and substitution are accompanied, not only the presence or the absence of a conjugation (or substitution) of a specific material and an identity of the conjugated (or substituted) material can be determined at each step but also the presence or the absence of a material which fell apart from the nanoparticles due to conjugation (or substitution) by other material but remains as an impurity in a solution can be determined. These can be evaluated based on a spatial distribution of conjugation between two materials.