Nanotechnology has become more and more potentially used in diagnosis or treatment of diseases. Advances in nanotechnology have led to new and improved nanomaterials in biomedical applications. Common nanomaterials applicable in biomedical applications include liposomes, polymeric micelles, graphene, carbon nanotubes, quantum dots, ferroferric oxide nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), and so on. Among them, Au NPs have been considered as the most interesting nanomaterial because of its unique optical, electronic, sensing and biochemical properties. Au NPs have been potentially applied for medical imaging, drug delivery, and tumor therapy in the early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases. This review focuses on some recent advances in the use of Au NPs as drug carriers for the intracellular delivery of therapeutics and as molecular nanoprobes for the detection and monitoring of target molecules.

In this paper, a novel electrochemical sensor based on Au nanoparticles/8-aminoquinoline functionalized graphene oxide (AuNPs/GAQ) nanocomposite was developed and tested for the first time for detection of paraquat (PQ). The morphology and composition of AuNPs/GAQ nanocomposite were characterized by various techniques, including transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry were utilized to investigate the electrochemical performances of AuNPs/GAQ nanocomposite modified glassy carbon electrode. The obtained modified electrode exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity towards detection of PQ. Under the optimized conditions, the proposed sensor showed low detection limit (6 nM, S / N = 3), wide linear range (0.02–24 μ M), high selectivity and good stability. In addition, it was successfully applied for detection of PQ in natural water samples with satisfactory results.