title: Synthesis of mesoporous carbon nanoparticles with large and tunable pore sizes.
abstract: Mesoporous carbon nanoparticles (MCNs) with large and adjustable pores have been synthesized by using poly(ethylene oxide)-b-polystyrene (PEO-b-PS) as a template and resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) as a carbon precursor. The resulting MCNs possess small diameters (100-126 nm) and high BET surface areas (up to 646 m(2) g(-1)). By using home-designed block copolymers, the pore size of MCNs can be tuned in the range of 13-32 nm. Importantly, the pore size of 32 nm is the largest among the MCNs prepared by the soft-templating route. The formation mechanism and structure evolution of MCNs were studied by TEM and DLS measurements, based on which a soft-templating/sphere packing mechanism was proposed. Because of the large pores and small particle sizes, the resulting MCNs were excellent nano-carriers to deliver biomolecules into cancer cells. MCNs were further demonstrated with negligible toxicity. It is anticipated that this carbon material with large pores and small particle sizes may have excellent potential in drug/gene delivery.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, P. R. China. lijsh@mail.njust.edu.cn wanglj@mail.njust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Meihua
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jiansheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chengzhong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Lianjun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang