Physical and Chemical Processes for Gold Nanoparticles and Ionising Radiation in Medical Contexts

After a review of key concepts in radiobiology, radiation–matter interactions, radiotherapy and radiosensitisation, the physical and chemical mechanisms at work when gold nanoparticles are irradiated in aqueous media are discussed with reference to both experimental results and theoretical predictions. In this context, various mechanisms able to cause biological damage are considered within a unified framework. The importance of these mechanisms for gold nanoparticle-enhanced radiotherapy is emphasised along with their more general importance for the whole field of nanomedicine employing gold nanoparticles.