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Soluble silicon nanoparticles–polyaniline capsules for biosensing and imaging

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Abstract

We used miniemulsion to synthesize novel water-soluble dispersion of nanocapsules with a polyaniline (PANI) shell and luminescent ultrasmall Si nanoparticle core with diameters of 50–300 nm. The capsules are functionalized with aromatic sulfonic acid. The capsules may be reconstituted in thin films or structured surfaces. The stability of the luminescence and dispersion of the capsules is studied under a wide range of pH conditions. The multiplicity of nanoparticles in the core provides highly amplified and reproducible signal for luminescence-based imaging using standard fluorescence microscopy, while the PANI shell allows a variety of routes for functionalization as well as electrical interrogation, which enables a wide range of biosensing/imaging applications.

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Acknowledgment

The authors acknowledge NSF Grant OISE 11-03-398.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Polymers and Pigments Department, Chemical Industrial Division, National Research Center, Cairo, 12311, Egypt

    Noha Elhalawany

  2. Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, 61801, USA

    Yulia Maximenko & Munir H. Nayfeh

  3. Center of Excellence for Nanotechnology, KFUPM, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia

    Zain Yamani

  4. Department of Electrical Engineering, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, 44115, USA

    Siu-Tung Yau

Authors
  1. Noha Elhalawany
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  2. Yulia Maximenko
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  3. Zain Yamani
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  4. Siu-Tung Yau
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  5. Munir H. Nayfeh
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Correspondence to Munir H. Nayfeh.

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Elhalawany, N., Maximenko, Y., Yamani, Z. et al. Soluble silicon nanoparticles–polyaniline capsules for biosensing and imaging. Journal of Materials Research 28, 210–215 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2012.325

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2012.325

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