A Tetraphenylethene Luminogen-Functionalized Gemini Surfactant for Simple and Controllable Fabrication of Hollow Mesoporous Silica Nanorods with Enhanced Fluorescence

Abstract

Nanoparticles that possess unique structures and properties are highly desired in the production of multifunctional materials because of their combinational performance. In this study, a facile and effective fabricating strategy is developed to controllably prepare fluorescent hollow mesoporous silica nanorods via the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and tetraphenylethene (TPE) luminogen-functionalized gemini surfactant (CTPE–C6–CTPE) guided dual-templating approach. Because of its unique chemical structure, water solubility, surface activity, and fluorescent properties, the designed CTPE–C6–CTPE will not only provide an anchored fluorophore for silica nanoparticles but also serve as an intimate partner of CTAB to regulate their construction in the structure-directing process. By properly tuning the molar ratio of CTAB/CTPE–C6–CTPE, the shape-controlled aggregation-induced emission hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (AIE-MSNs) can be prepared directly, producing two kinds of silica nanorods (AIE-MSNs-15 and AIE-MSNs-7). In particular, the incorporated bulky TPE luminogens will not only endow AIE-MSNs-7 with enhanced fluorescence intensity (2.3-fold) after the removal of CTAB but also bring about high accessible surface area (606.6 m2/g) and larger pore size (3.2 nm) and pore volume (0.634 cm3/g) for effective loading and sustained release of the hydrophobic anticancer drug camptothecin. CTPE–C6–CTPE enriches the family of gemini surfactants and provides important insights into the convenient fabrication of advanced fluorescent mesoporous materials.

Frontier luminous strategy of functional silica nanohybrids in sensing and bioimaging: From ACQ to AIE

“…Fluorescent MSNs with AIEgens can also be synthesized via non‐covalent strategy, which is achieved by using fluorophores‐based amphiphile as co‐structure directing agent to participate in the construction of fluorescent MSNs. [ 83–87 ] Wei and co‐workers synthetized fluorescent MSNs via one‐pot surfactant templated method using an AIE‐active distyrylanthracene derivative (An18) and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide as structure‐directed template for both cell imaging and cancer therapy applications (Figure 2A). [ 88 ] Gao and co‐workers developed a tetraphenylethene (TPE)‐based carboxylate gemini surfactant which not only participated in the structure‐directing process but also acted as anchored fluorophores for controllable fabrication of stimuli‐responsive fluorescent MSNs (Figure 2B).…”

AIEgen-Based Nanomaterials for Bacterial Imaging and Antimicrobial Applications: Recent Advances and Perspectives

“…In addition to loading drugs through the self-assembly of organic macromolecules, antibiotics can also be loaded with the help of some existing carriers. Organic silica nanoparticles can not only improve the drug loading rate, but also improve the biocompatibility of materials by selecting suitable silica precursors, which are good drug carriers [ 13 , 74 , 75 , 76 ]. Inspired by the guiding role of surfactants in the preparation of nanoparticles, Yan et al [ 77 ] used the AIE molecule MeOTTVP as the framework and adopted the two-template assisted one-pot method to prepare organic silica nanoparticles (AIE-ONs).…”

Mesoporous Silica Platforms with Potential Applications in Release and Adsorption of Active Agents

“…In this manner, bile acids and CTAB-composed cationic templating systems generate submicronic MCM-41 particles with different shapes, high porosity, and remarkable countenance. Furthermore, the bile acid is the element that allows the variation of particle architecture [82].…”