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.

Towards nonspecific detection of malignant cervical cells with fluorescent silica beads.

To date, the methods for detection of cancer cells are mostly based on traditional techniques used in biology, such as visual identification of malignant changes, cell-growth analysis, specific ligand-receptor labeling, or genetic tests. Despite being well developed, these methods are either insufficiently accurate or require a lengthy complicated analysis. A search for alternative methods for the detection of cancer cells may be a fruitful approach.

Fluorescent silica colloids for study and visualization of skin care products.

Background: The efficacy of skin care products depends on the time and dynamics of their absorbance by the skin, and its spatial distribution on the skin. Regular scrape-based methods may depend on the operator and are destructive and invasive in nature. Here, we describe a novel method based on non-contact optical measurements to trace the location and dynamics of skin care products on the skin.