Silica-Based Nanoparticles: Design and Properties - Advanced Fluorescence Reporters in Chemistry and Biology - page 229

Silica-Based Nanoparticles: Design
and Properties

Song Liang, Carrie L. John, Shuping Xu, Jiao Chen, Yuhui Jin,
Quan Yuan, Weihong Tan, and Julia Xiaojun Zhao

Abstract A number of dye-doped silica nanoparticles (DDSNs) have been devel-
oped by encapsulating various fluorophores into silica nanomatrixes. These DDSNs
have shown great potential as highly sensitive fluorescent labeling agents for
biosensing and bioimaging. The silica nanomatrix affects the radiative properties
and reactivity of doped fluorophores and endows the DDSN surface properties of
silica. Compared with molecular fluorophores, the DDSNs exhibit advantageous
properties such as high fluorescence intensity, good photostability, and biological
compatibility. In this chapter, methods for silica nanoparticle synthesis and
approaches for doping dye molecules within the silica nanomatrixes are over-
viewed. Various advantageous properties of DDSNs are discussed including reac-
tion kinetics, solubility, photostability, quantum yield, lifetime, and toxicity.

Keywords Fluorescence Lifetime Photostability Quantum yield Silica

nanoparticle

Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
2 Design of Dye-Doped Silica Nanoparticles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
2.1 Synthesis of Silica Nanoparticles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
2.2 Methods of Doping Dye Molecules into Silica Nanoparticles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
2.3 Configurations of DDSNs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236