title: New methods for improved characterization of silica nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems.
abstract: The incorporation of silica nanoparticles into drug delivery vehicles, and other nanotech platforms, has experienced rapid and significant growth over the past decade. However, as these nanoparticle-based systems become more and more complex, the methods used to analyze these systems have evolved at a comparatively much slower pace, resulting in the need for researchers to expand their toolbox and devise new strategies to characterize these materials. This article describes how X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) were recently employed in the analysis of two separate drug delivery systems which contain organic compounds covalently attached to the surfaces of silica nanoparticles. These techniques provided a deluge of qualitative and quantitative information about these drug delivery systems, and have several clear advantages over more common characterization procedures such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR). Thus, XPS and ToF-SIMS should be an integral component of the standard characterization protocol for any nanoparticle-based assemblies-particularly silica-based drug delivery systems-as this field of research continues to develop.
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental (NUANCE) Center, Northwestern University , 2220 Campus Drive, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States.
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Ambrogio
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frasconi
authors.forename: M Deniz
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.forename: Xinqi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D056951:Photoelectron Spectroscopy; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
chemical_list: D012822:Silicon Dioxide