title: Ultrasmall sub-10 nm near-infrared fluorescent mesoporous silica nanoparticles.
abstract: Ultrasmall sub-10 nm nanoprobes and carriers are of significant interest due to their favorable biodistribution characteristics in in vivo experiments. Here we describe the one-pot synthesis of PEGylated mesoporous silica nanoparticles with a single pore, tunable sizes around 9 nm and narrow size distributions that can be labeled with near-infrared dye Cy5.5. Particles are characterized by a combination of transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, optical spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and nitrogen sorption/desorption measurements. The possibility to distinguish an "inside" and "outside" may render these particles an interesting subject for further studies in sensing, drug delivery, and theranostics applications.
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14850, USA.
authors: Kai
authors: K
authors: Ma
authors: Hiroaki
authors: H
authors: Sai
authors: Ulrich
authors: U
authors: Wiesner
mesh_terms: D002232:Carbocyanines / Q000737:chemistry; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D007259:Infrared Rays; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D016062:Porosity; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: C098793:CY5.5 cyanine dye; D002232:Carbocyanines; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D012822:Silicon Dioxide