Monodisperse, Self-Activated Luminescent, and Mesoporous Silica Nanospheres for Drug Delivery

Monodisperse mesoporous silica nanospheres with novel self-activated luminescence have been fabricated by a modified templating sol–gel method followed by heat treatment, without introducing any rare earth or transition metal ions as activators. The SEM, TEM, and N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms results show that the as-obtained mesoporous silica nanospheres exhibit well-defined morphology, good dispersion, high specific surface area and pore volume. MTT assay indicates that the sample exhibits no obvious cytotoxicity against the A549, HeLa, and MCF-7 cells, which make it suitable to be utilized as a drug carrier. Under ultraviolet excitation, the sample exhibits an intense blue emission. Interestingly, the photoluminescence intensity of the IBU drug loaded system increases with the increase of cumulatively released IBU. Due to the relationship between the luminescence properties and drug release behavior, the as-obtained luminescent drug carrier may be potential as a probe for monitoring or detecting the drug release process.