Preparation and characterization of core-shell type Ag@SiO₂ nanoparticles for photodynamic cancer therapy

With recent scientific developments, Photodynamic therapy (PDT) offers the promisie to become incorporated into the mainstream of cancer therapy. Noble metal based nano-PDT is increasing due to its advantages in the field of biomedicine. In this study, noble metal based Ag@SiO₂ core-shell nanoparticles were synthesized and to confirm the core-shell structure they were characterized by UV-vis, XRD, FTIR, TEM, and EDX. Our data confirm that core-shell type Ag@SiO₂ nanoparticles maintain its ability to kill cancer cells upon light irradiation. This shows that SiO₂ shell may not only prevent aggregation but it also may enhance the photodynamic activity of Ag nanoparticles.