Emulsion-oriented assembly for Janus double-spherical mesoporous nanoparticles as biological logic gates

The ability of Janus nanoparticles to establish biological logic systems has been widely exploited, yet conventional non/uni-porous Janus nanoparticles are unable to fully mimic biological communications. Here we demonstrate an emulsion-oriented assembly approach for the fabrication of highly uniform Janus double-spherical MSN&mPDA (MSN, mesoporous silica nanoparticle; mPDA, mesoporous polydopamine) nanoparticles. The delicate Janus nanoparticle possesses a spherical MSN with a diameter of similar to 150 nm and an mPDA hemisphere with a diameter of similar to 120 nm. In addition, the mesopore size in the MSN compartment is tunable from similar to 3 to similar to 25 nm, while those in the mPDA compartments range from similar to 5 to similar to 50 nm. Due to the different chemical properties and mesopore sizes in the two compartments, we achieve selective loading of guests in different compartments, and successfully establish single-particle-level biological logic gates. The dual-mesoporous structure enables consecutive valve-opening and matter-releasing reactions within one single nanoparticle, facilitating the design of single-particle-level logic systems.

Automated summary

We demonstrate the fabrication of highly uniform Janus double-spherical MSN&mPDA nanoparticles using an emulsion-oriented assembly approach. The dual-mesoporous structure enables selective loading of guests in different compartments and the establishment of single-particle-level biological logic gates.