Synthesis of Organic Dye-Impregnated Silica Shell-Coated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles by a New Method

A new method for preparing magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles coated by organic dye-doped silica shell was developed in this article. Iron oxide nanoparticles were first coated with dye-impregnated silica shell by the hydrolysis of hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (HTMOS) which produced a hydrophobic core for the entrapment of organic dye molecules. Then, the particles were coated with a hydrophilic shell by the hydrolysis of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS), which enabled water dispersal of the resulting nanoparticles. The final product was characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and vibration sample magnetometer. All the characterization results proved the final samples possessed magnetic and fluorescent properties simultaneously. And this new multifunctional nanomaterial possessed high photostability and minimal dye leakage.