PEGylation of porous silicon using click chemistry

Porous silicon has received considerable interest in recent years in a range of biomedical applications, with its performance determined by surface chemistry. In this work, we investigate the PEGylation of porous silicon wafers using click chemistry. The porous silicon wafer surface chemistry was monitored at each stage of the reaction via photoacoustic Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, whereas sessile drop contact angle and model protein adsorption measurements were used to characterize the final PEGylated surface. This work highlights the simplicity of click-chemistry-based functionalization in tailoring the porous silicon surface chemistry and controlling protein-porous silicon interactions.