Dendrimer-encapsulated gold nanoparticles as building blocks for multilayer microshells

We report the effect of gold nanoparticles encapsulated into the shell-forming PAMAM dendrimers on the assembly and properties of multilayer microshells. We demonstrate that the PAMAM-encapsulated gold nanoparticles change dramatically the optical spectroscopic properties of microcapsule dispersions, without significantly affecting the stiffness of microcapsules. Our results indicate that the use of dendrimer-protected nanoparticles as building blocks opens numerous possibilities to vary the composition and diverse properties of microshells without changing their stiffness.