Local temperature measurement in the vicinity of electromagnetically heated magnetite and gold nanoparticles

Abstract

This paper describes a new technique employing fluorescent quantum dots as temperature probes for measuring the temperature rise in the proximity of nanoparticles heated by a radio frequency (rf) electromagnetic field. The remote heating of nanoparticles by an rf field is a promising approach to control biological transformations at the molecular level. In principle, the heat dissipated by each nanoparticle might produce a temperature increase in its proximity, facilitating a change in the molecules directly attached to it but not in the others. Although this method has been demonstrated to provide control over biological transformations, the proposed mechanism involves producing and maintaining large temperature differences across small distances, in the range of several degrees Celsius across tens of nanometers. Existing theories for heat generation and transfer in rf heated nanoparticle systems cannot account for these gradients. To better understand the limitations of local heating, the temperature in the vicinity of rf heated nanoparticles was measured. Dilute aqueous suspensions of gold and magnetite nanoparticles were remotely heated by an rf field between 600–800 kHz. Two systems were investigated: a control sample consisting of quantum dots mixed with nanoparticles and a solution of quantum dots covalently linked to nanoparticles. The temperature of the fluorescent probes represents the average temperature in the former and the local temperature in the later. For the experimental conditions employed in this study, the measured temperature rise in the vicinity of rf heated nanoparticles were similar to the average or “bulk” temperature, in agreement with theoretical predictions.