Fluorescent hybrid silica nanoparticles and their biomedical applications

Benefitting from the subtle combination of robust inorganic silica with organic dyes, fluorescent hybrid silica nanoparticles are getting more and more attention by virtue of their excellent aqueous solubility, superior photo- and chemical stability, negligible cytotoxicity, and multifunctional capability. On overcoming the disadvantages of traditional organic dyes, fluorescent hybrid silica nanoparticles have exhibited promising biomedical application potentials both in vitro and in vivo, such as bioimaging, anti-tumor theranostics and biosensing, etc. In this review, various fluorescent hybrid materials based on colloidal silica nanoparticles, mesoporous silica nanoparticles and silica-block copolymer hybrid micelles are discussed from the design, synthesis to their biomedical applications. Especially, the fluorescent hybrid silica/organosilica cross-linking block copolymer micelles are introduced in detail. Finally, the prospects and challenges of these fluorescent hybrid silica nanoparticles in terms of their design, synthesis, and biomedical application are presented. This article is categorized under: Diagnostic Tools > in vivo Nanodiagnostics and Imaging Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology.