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Updated: Jan 28, 2026

Synthesis, Functionalization, and Characterization of Fusogenic Porous Silicon Nanoparticles for Oligonucleotide Delivery
Published on: April 16, 2019
Effect of solvent on silicon nanoparticle formation and size: a mechanistic study
Sanaa Semlali1, Benoit Cormary, Maria L De Marco
1CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux INP, ICMCB, UMR 5026, 33600 Pessac, France. glenna.drisko@gmail.com.
Abstract:
Silicon has emerged as the most desirable material for optical dielectric metamaterials, however chemists struggle to obtain the required silicon nanoparticle dimensions. Here the average diameter of silicon nanoparticles is varied between 3 and 15 nm by changing the reaction solvent. Electrochemistry and NMR elucidate the role of solvent on the synthetic mechanism. Surprisingly the solvent does not stabilize the nanoparticles and there is no trend associated with chain length or open-chain versus cyclical solvent molecules. The solvent's main role is to stabilize the by-products, which prolongs the reaction lifetime.
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