Mesoporous materials are a class of porous nanomaterials with pore size of 2 to 50 nm [1]. Specifically, mesoporous silica (m-SiO 2) is a popular research subject in biomedical applications due to its good biocompatibility, high drug-loading capacity, large pore density, size tunability, and ability for facile surface modification [2]. A variant of research on m-SiO 2 is its combinations with some functional nanoparticles (NPs), for example, iron oxide, ZnO, etc. ZnO/SiO 2 nanocomposites have been studied for different applications such as dye degradation [3], in oil recovery [4], in photocatalysis [5], and in optical and optoelectronic applications [6, 7]. Such structures have potential for theranostic applications as well. Unlike conventional imaging and therapy techniques, they are capable of simultaneously carrying therapeutic drugs along with diagnostic or imaging agents which can be helpful in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or photoluminescence imaging. They may also act as safe carriers for drugs which otherwise exhibit toxicity or instability if used on their own [8]. Moreover, their surfaces can be functionalized to achieve targeted drug delivery to tumours [9]. Efforts to successfully bring these materials to mainstream clinical medicine are still underway [8]. ZnO has a potential use in photoluminescence imaging due to its luminescence under UV rays [10]. ZnO is also reported to possess anti-cancer activity due to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation [11]. So, combined potential of SiO 2 @ZnO for photoluminescence and ultrasound imaging is an edge that may be used in the field of theranostics [12-14]. Various combinations of SiO 2 and ZnO have been explored for biomedical applications. Han et al. [15] prepared ZnO/silica core-shell composites and hollow silica particles and films, indicating their potential use in drug delivery. Generalov et al. studied the radiosensitizing effect of ZnO/silica nanocomposites [16]. They found that ZnO-silica core-shell NPs improve results of radiation therapy employed for certain cancer cell lines. Photoluminescence properties of ZnO@polymer have been explored in isolation by Pan et al. for in vivo imaging of mice [17]. ZnO@SiO 2 NPs show cytotoxicity as studied This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.