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Updated: Mar 21, 2026
In Situ Monitoring of Diffusion of Guest Molecules in Porous Media Using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: September 2, 2016
Simultaneous spectroscopic measurements of the interior temperature and induced cargo release from pore-restricted
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, 607 Charles E. Young Drive East, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA. zink@chem.ucla.edu.
Abstract:
Temperature changes initiated within nano structures are being increasingly used to externally activate responsive delivery vehicles. Yet, the precise measurement of the nano environment temperature increase and its correlation with the induced macroscopic cargo release are difficult to achieve. In this study, we focus on a photothermally activated drug delivery system based on mesoporous silica nanoparticles, and use an optical nanothermometer - NaYF4:Yb(3+),Er(3+) crystals - for a ratiometric temperature measurement. Using fluorescent dyes as the payload molecule, both the nanoparticle interior temperature change and the macroscopic cargo release amount are monitored simultaneously by fluorescent spectroscopy. We found that the cargo release lags the temperature increase by about 5 min, revealing the threshold temperature that the particles have to reach before a substantial release could happen. Using this spectroscopic method, we are able to directly compare and correlate a nano environment event with its stimulated macroscopic results.
