Synthesis of ultrabright nanoporous fluorescent silica discoids using an inorganic silica precursor.

The templated sol-gel synthesis of ultrabright fluorescent nanoporous silica particles based on the use of organic silica sources has previously been reported. The use of organosilanes as the main silica precursors has a number of issues, in particular, the low robustness of the synthesis due to instability of the organic silica source. Here we report on a novel synthesis of ultrabright fluorescent nanoporous silica discoids (a specific shape in-between the sphere and disk) of 3.

Detection of cancerous cervical cells using physical adhesion of fluorescent silica particles and centripetal force.

Here we describe a non-traditional method to identify cancerous human cervical epithelial cells in a culture dish based on physical adhesion between silica beads and cells. It is a simple optical fluorescence-based technique which detects the relative difference in the amount of fluorescent silica beads physically adherent to surfaces of cancerous and normal cervical cells. The method utilizes the centripetal force gradient that occurs in a rotating culture dish.

Ultrabright fluorescent mesoporous silica nanoparticles.

The first successful approach to synthesizing ultrabright fluorescent mesoporous silica nanoparticles is reported. Fluorescent dye is physically entrapped inside nanochannels of a silica matrix created during templated sol-gel self-assembly. The problem of dye leakage from open channels is solved by incorporation of hydrophobic groups in the silica matrix.

Towards understanding of shape formation mechanism of mesoporous silica particles.

Growth of even simple crystals is a rather hard problem to describe because of the non-equilibrium nature of the process. Meso(nano)porous silica particles, which are self-assembled in a sol-gel template synthesis, demonstrate an example of shapes of high complexity, similar to those observed in the biological world. Despite such complexity, here we present the evidence that at least a part of the formation of these shapes is an equilibrium process.