Facile Synthesis of Yolk-Shell-Structured Triple-Hybridized Periodic Mesoporous Organosilica Nanoparticles for Biomedicine

The synthesis of mesoporous nanoparticles with controllable structure and organic groups is important for their applications. In this work, yolk-shell-structured periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) nanoparticles simultaneously incorporated with ethane-, thioether-, and benzene-bridged moieties are successfully synthesized. The preparation of the triple-hybridized PMOs is via a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide-directed sol-gel process using mixed bridged silsesquioxanes as precursors and a following hydrothermal treatment. The yolk-shell-structured triple-hybridized PMO nanoparticles have large surface area (320 m(2) g(-1)), ordered mesochannels (2.5 nm), large pore volume (0.59 cm(3) g(-1)), uniform and controllable diameter (88-380 nm), core size (22-110 nm), and shell thickness (13-45 nm). In vitro cytotoxicity, hemolysis assay, and histological studies demonstrate that the yolk-shell-structured triple-hybridized PMO nanoparticles have excellent biocompatibility. Moreover, the organic groups in the triple-hybridized PMOs endow them with an ability for covalent connection of near-infrared fluorescence dyes, a high hydrophobic drug loading capacity, and a glutathione-responsive drug release property, which make them promising candidates for applications in bioimaging and drug delivery.