Editors: | F. Kongoli, F. Marquis, N. Chikhradze, T. Prikhna |
Publisher: | Flogen Star OUTREACH |
Publication Year: | 2019 |
Pages: | 174 pages |
ISBN: | 978-1-989820-10-0 |
ISSN: | 2291-1227 (Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment Series) |
Surface-modified silica nanoparticles that are copolymerized with one or more types of small organic molecules can be synthesized using a wide range of organic molecules, fluorescent or non-fluorescent, including near-infrared dyes due to the wide availability of modified reactive TEOS analogues. These silica nanoparticles that are copolymerized with dye molecules can be utilized as bright fluorescence labels or sensors. In addition, covalently surface bonded moieties can be added to silica nanoparticles to custom tailor the surface behavior of the silica nanoparticles. These surface modifiers can serve many purposes, such as molecular recognition. For example, introducing hydrophobic molecules to the surface of silica nanoparticles facilitates binding of the particle to hydrophobic molecules and surfaces. Fluorescence intensity of a single molecular label can be relatively weak requiring larger amounts of chemicals. One way to achieve sustainability during manufacturing or any chemical applications is to significantly reduce the amount of chemicals used. Another way to reduce the environmental impact of chemicals is to incorporate the molecules in a more environmentally friendly shield that effectively prevents the less desirable molecules from leaching out in the environment. All these can be achieved by encapsulating fluorophores in silica nanoparticles. The outside of surface tailored silica nanoparticles can be designed for any chemistry to make them more environmentally friendly. The encapsulated dye can serve as a simple reporting label, as a sophisticated molecular probe or as a tracer. Due to the large number of molecules that can be encapsulated in a single silica nanoparticle, the number of labels is very small, requiring minimal amount of chemicals. This presentation discusses the facile synthesis of silica nanoparticles using modified TEOS. Using the re-growth technique for surface modification, copolymerized fluorophores and surface bound moieties are introduced. Practical applications of these particles including environmental, forensic and analytical applications will be discussed. Surface modification examples will be given to achieve any desired behavior of the silica nanoparticle.