Synthesis of monodisperse hollow carbon nanocapsules by using protective silica shells

Monodisperse hollow carbon nanocapsules (<200 nm) with mesoporous shells were synthesized by coating their outer shells with silica to prevent aggregation during their high-temperature annealing. Monodispersed silica nanoparticles were used as starting materials and octadecyltrimethoxysilane (C18TMS) was used as a carbon source to create core-shell nanostructures. These core-shell nanoparticles were coated with silica on their outer shell to form a second shell layer. This outer silica shell prevented aggregation during calcination. The samples were characterized by TEM, SEM, dynamic light scattering (DLS), UV/Vis spectroscopy, and by using the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. The as-synthesized hollow carbon nanoparticles exhibited a high surface area (1123 m(2) g(-1)) and formed stable dispersions in water after the pegylation process. The drug-loading and drug-release properties of these hollow carbon nanocapsules were also investigated.