General assembly of organic molecules in core-shell mesoporous silica nanoparticles

Abstract

In recent years, mesoporous silica materials have been intensively investigated due to their potential applications as delivery vehicles for various guest molecules. In this research, we report the design, synthesis and modification of monodisperse core-shell nanoparticles with a single nonporous silica core and a fully covered mesoporous silica shell. Furthermore, two organic dyes with the opposite charge were chosen to this experiment. We also demonstrated the successful encapsulation of different dyes within mesoporous silica shell through a one step self-assembly process. No significant dye leakage was found during the investigated time. This fluorescent dye assembled core-shell nanoparticles can be of particular use in a number of applications. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.