Mass Transfer in Mesoporous Microparticles Studied by Confocal Fluorescence Recovery after Photobleaching

The intraparticle diffusion of a fluorescent dye in single microparticles in an aqueous solution was analyzed using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, with a confocal fluorescence microscope. The fluorescence depth profile of single microparticles, and the fluorescence recovery at the particle center, were measured; further, the intraparticle diffusion coefficient was determined through simulations of three-dimensional diffusion in the respective microparticles. The intraparticle diffusion of coumarin 102 in octadecylsilyl silica gel was limited by the surface diffusion.