| Abstract
| - The antibacterial drug ciprofloxacin (cfH) has been used to protect gold nanoparticles of two differentmean diameters, 4 and 20 nm. The protection is complete with about 65 and 585 cfH molecules covering4 and 15 nm particles, respectively. The nature of binding has been investigated by several analyticaltechniques. The nitrogen atom of the NH moiety of piperazine group binds on the gold surface, as revealedby voltammetric and spectroscopic studies. The cfH-adsorbed particles are stable in the dry state as wellas at room temperature, and as a result, redispersion is possible. The rate of release of the drug moleculefrom the nanoparticles is more in the basic medium than in pure water, and the kinetics depend on thesize of the particle; faster desorption is seen in smaller particles. The bound cfH is fluorescent, and thisproperty could be used in biological investigations. This study shows that metal nanoparticles could beuseful carriers for cfH and fluoroquinolone molecules. Most of the bound molecules could be released overan extended period of time.
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