The heart of our work in functional core-shell silica nanoparticles is the development of fluorescent particles based on organic dyes covalently incorporated into the silica matrix.

Reactive dye molecules are cross-linked to a silica precursor which is reacted to form a dye-rich core particle. This core is then encapsulated in a layer of pure silica to create the core-shell particle.

This encapsulation process combines the versatility and functionality of organic dyes with the stability and biocompatibility of the silica surface.

Beyond simply combining the properties of the dye and silica, this architecture has been shown to actually enhance both the brightness and stability of the dyes, compared to the free dye in solution.

Investigating these enhancements is a major goal of the research group, using Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) and other advanced optical spectroscopy methods.

We have demonstrated these enhancements in a number of dyes throughout the visible spectrum and are continually developing new particles for applications in biology and photonics

Selected References:

A. Burns H. Ow, U. Wiesner. "Fluorescent core-shell silica nanoparticles: towards 'Lab on a particle' architectures for nanobiotechnology" Chemical Society Reviews, 35, 2006, 1028-1042

E. Herz, A. Burns, S. Lee, P. Sengupta, D. Bonner, H. Ow, C. Liddell, B. Baird, U. Wiesner. " Fluorescent core-shell silica nanoparticles: an alternative radiative materials platform", Proceedings of the SPIE Vol. 6096: Colloidal Quantum Dots for Biomedical Applications, 2006, 1-12

H. Ow, D. Larson, M. Srivastava, B. Baird, W. Webb, U. Wiesner,"Bright and Stable Core-Shell Fluorescent Silica Nanoparticles", Nano Letters 5(1), 2005, 113-117