Journal of Shanghai University(Natural Science Edition) ›› 2025, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (4): 646-656.doi: 10.12066/j.issn.1007-2861.2590

• Materials Science • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Light quantum mechanism of PCR efficiency oscillation concerning gold nanoparticle concentration

FANG Huanhuan, CHEN Yongcong   

  1. College of Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China
  • Received:2024-05-30 Online:2025-08-31 Published:2025-09-16

Abstract: The widespread application of nanomaterials in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology has opened new avenues for improving detection methods in the biomedical field. Recent experiments have revealed that the oscillatory behavior between PCR efficiency and the concentration of gold nanoparticles in the pM range is, potentially linked to the long-range Coulomb interactions among charged colloidal particles and the quantum size effect of nanoparticles electronic states. Through Monte Carlo simulation, this paper discovered that the radial distribution function of gold nanoparticles in solution gradually exhibited peak characteristics with increasing charge, triggering coherent photon behavior in Rayleigh scattering within the solution, and thereby influencing the efficiency of reusing released photons in the PCR reaction. The study demonstrates that the oscillation period aligns with the wavelength of downstream reaction photons, while their energy matches the width of energy levels near the Fermi level of gold nanoparticles. The latter can absorb and store electron states internally, promoting upstream PCR reactions through subsequent re-release, and compensating for energy deficiencies through the Boltzmann distribution of electrons. This work is poised to advance the application of PCR-specific precise detection methods in the field of quantum biotechnology.

Key words: gold nanoparticles, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), long-range Coulomb interaction, Rayleigh coherent scattering, quantum size effect

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