Surface Polarity-Insensitive Organosilicasome-Based Clustering of Nanoparticles with Intragap Distance Tunability

Abstract

The limited intragap distance tunability of clustering nanoparticles with different surface chemistries resulted in unwanted interference between embedded nanoparticles and restricted functionality. This leads to an urgent need for a new strategy that enables the assembly of building block nanoparticles obtained from solvents with different polarities in defined compositions, distances, and orientations. Herein, we used organosilicasome (OSS), an organic–inorganic hybrid compound covered with a surfactant, to cluster diverse nanoparticles with high configurational tunability regardless of their surface chemistry. OSS is capable of gluing building block nanoparticles and inducing their co-encapsulation. The dissolvable characteristics of OSS facilitate controlled dissolution of nanoclusters, allowing the adjustment of the gap distance between building block nanoparticles and resulting in closely packed and loosely packed nanoclusters. Owing to OSS’s silica-based chemical nature, the synthesized nanoclusters can be silicified through simple addition of a silica precursor to have a robust mesoporous silica body. In consequence, OSS enables the synthesis of multifunctional nanoclusters, especially with enhanced fluorescence, by controlling the distance in long range between gold nanoparticles and quantum dots. These tunable and multifunctional nanoclusters, synthesized from OSS, should provide a new platform ranging from the exploration of interactions at the nanoscale to the advent of unconventional multifunctional nanomaterials.

Structurally Engineered Silica Shells on Gold Nanorods for Biomedical Applications

“…Yoon et al synthesized AuNRs embedded in silica (Figure 14e). [ 123 ] This organosilica‐based clustering platform can control the distance and orientation between the AuNRs. In addition, various NPs with different surface polarities, such as spherical AuNPs, AuNRs, superparamagnetic NPs, and quantum dots, can be used as building blocks in this method, enabling their use as multimodal imaging agents with tunable enhancement and quenching (Figure 14f).…”

“…Copyright 2015, AIP Publishing LLC. Panel (e,f ): Reproduced with permission [123]. Copyright 2021, Americal Chemical Society.…”

Gold Nanoparticles as Exquisite Colorimetric Transducers for Water Pollutant Detection

“…Over the past few decades, researchers have reported various surface modifications of NPs for biological and environmental applications. Silica-based particles use silane-based chains with similar structures, , while organic–inorganic particles replace the original surface with amine, carboxylic acid, and other functional groups . Although ribosomes, micelles, and polymer particles typically have their own surface properties, PEG chains are often used to stabilize particles, and for carbon NPs, oxidation processes are used to introduce carboxylic and hydroxyl groups .…”

Polymer-Free Side-Patched Gold Nanorods Synthesized via Salt-Assisted Anisotropic Structural Tuning of Silica Shells

“…Gold nanorods (AuNRs) are highly versatile and are widely utilized in various applications owing to the strong electric fields on their surfaces. − They have been employed in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensors, , plasmon-enhanced fluorescence platforms, − smart drug delivery systems, − photothermal heaters, − and photocatalysts. , To fully exploit the potential of AuNRs for these applications, surface modification is necessary to enhance their compatibility, colloidal stability, and functionality.…”