Nanoparticles in block copolymer micelles

Fig. 2 Schematic illustrations of encapsulation of porous silicon nanoparticles in block copolymer micelles or by miniemulsion polymerization. Instead of attempting to functionalize the nanoparticle surface directly, a functional group X is incorporated into a suitable block copolymer (top) or in the monomer droplet of a miniemulsion polymerization technique (bottom). These techniques expand the range of functionalities that can be incorporated into SiNC-based systems and facilitate greater synthetic control. The main disadvantage of such systems is the increased size of the final object which may obviate particular applications, e.g., some intracellular imaging applications...

Loginova, T.P. etal. (2004) Molybdenum sulfide nanoparticles in block copolymer micelles synthesis andtribiological properties. Chemistry of Materials, 16,2369-2378. 

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