Silica nanoparticles functionalization additives

The following protocol for modification of silica nanoparticles is based on the method of Zhao et al. (2004), which describes the addition of amine functionalities using trimethoxysilyl-propyldiethylenetriamine. Other functional silane modifications may be done similarly. 

Another approach that has been used to introduce a sol-gel functionality into a microchip has been to either imbed the sol-gel into the microchip or to coat a microchip channel with a sol-gel. The method to imbed sol-gel functionality into a chip involved preparing a PDMS chip with silica nanoparticles homogeneously distributed throughout the PDMS [4]. This approach produced a chip that was more hydrophilic than normal PDMS. In addition, when these chips were used for capillary electrophoresis analysis, the electroosmotic flow was much higher than in other PDMS chips. 

In addition to functionalizing native CPMV for electrochemical applications, Evans and coworkers utilized the exterior of CPMV as a biological template for the synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles.Silica nanoparticles were synthesized from a genetically mutated version of CPMV, which included the insertion of a 12 amino acid peptide sequence previously determined to initiate the nucle-ation of silica mineralization. The introduction of a short peptide into the viral capsid did not alter the assembly... 

Other multifunctional coating [106] develops transparent superhydrophobic surfaces. Trimethylsiloxane (TMS) surface-functionalized silica nanoparticles embedded in an organosihca gel matrix were used to obtain the films, which present appropriate roughness and low surface energy without any additional hydrophobic capping layer. The amount of nanoparticles and silica gel binder determine water repellence and the thermomechanical stability of the coated surfaces. 

Abstract. We report on the interest of luminescent and nanosized metal atom clusters for the development of functional silica nanoparticles. Furthermore, multi-functional hybrid nanoparticles have been achieved by associating these luminescent clusters with magnetic y-Fe203 nanocrystals and plasmonic gold nanocrystals. In addition, as part of the risk evaluation before potential applications, the toxicity of the nanoparticles was evaluated both on plants and on human cells. 

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