Water-dispersable photoreactors based on core-shell mesoporous silica particles

Robust solid-core silica particles with submicrometer size and anthracene-containing mesoporous shell were obtained and studied as model water-dispersable photoreactors. An anthracene derivative containing a triethoxysilyl group was synthesized and co-condensed with tetraethoxysilane in various ratios to form a photoactive mesoporous shell with a thickness up to approximately 80 nm on previously prepared solid silica particles. Mesopores of as-synthesized particles, without a commonly applied removal of the micellar templates, offered a confined space for solubilization of hydrophobic molecules. Efficient excitation energy transfer from anthracene chromophores to both hydrophobic (perylene) and hydrophilic (fluoresceine) encapsulated acceptors was observed in an aqueous dispersion of the particles. Photosensitized oxidation of encapsulated perylene was shown to proceed efficiently in such systems serving as water-dispersable photoreactors. Importantly, the designed core-shell systems were found to be stable for a long time (at least 24 months) and robust enough, thanks to the presence of solid cores, to be handled by centrifugation in aqueous dispersions. All these features make them promising candidates for reusable systems for the photosensitized degradation of water pollutants, especially hydrophobic pollutants.