Flourescein Isothiocyanate Functionalized Bridged-polysiloxane Nanoparticles for Imaging Applications

Nanoscale particles derived from silicon, such as silica and siloxane are important examples of nanomaterials that can be applied in materials, electronics or biological context. As the surface of silica or siloxane core structure can be easily functionalized with various organic functional groups, there has been a great effort to use them as biological carriers and fluorescent markers, including the fluorescent siloxane nanoparticles described here. Two types of fluoresceinisothiocyanate derivative and amine functionalized bridged-polysiloxane nanoparticles were prepared by base catalyzed hydrolysis and condensation of their respective silane precursors. Particle size and dispersity were controlled by adjusting the molar ratios of organotrialkoxy silane, base, and TEOS concentration. These resulting fluorescent nanoparticles with reactive amine groups were found to be more advantageous over fluorescent core-shell silica or organically modified silica nanoparticles due to the higher load of covalently attached dye and the high solubility in a wide range of organic and aqueous solvents. Cellular uptake and cytotoxicity of these nanoparticles will be studied in vivo for potential applicability for bioimaging applications