title: Controlled synthesis of uniform and monodisperse upconversion core/mesoporous silica shell nanocomposites for bimodal imaging.
abstract: Here we report the design and controlled synthesis of monodisperse and precisely size-controllable UCNP@mSiO(2) nanocomposites smaller than 50 nm by directly coating a mesoporous silica shell (mSiO(2)) on upconversion nanocrystals NaYF(4):Tm/Yb/Gd (UCNPs), which can be used as near-infrared fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) agents and a platform for drug delivery as well. Some key steps such as transferring hydrophobic UCNPs to the water phase by using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), removal of the excess amount of CTAB, and temperature-controlled ultrasonication treatment should be adopted and carefully monitored to obtain uniform upconversion core/mesoporous silica shell nanocomposites. The excellent performance of the core-shell-structured nanocomposite in near-infrared fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging was also demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of High Performance, Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.1295 Ding-xi Road, Shanghai, 200050, PR China.
authors.forename: Jianan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wenbo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bu
authors.forename: Shengjian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Huaiyong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Limin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Liangping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Weijun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Jianlin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D016062:Porosity; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared
chemical_list: D012822:Silicon Dioxide