Biomedical and Sensor Applications of Silicon Nanoparticles

Borsella, E.; Falconieri, M.; Herlin, N.; Loschenov, Victor B.; Miserocchi, G.; Nie, Yaru; Rivolta, Iparia; Ryabova, Anastasia V.; Wang, Dayang

doi:10.1002/9783527629954.ch18

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…Silicon nanocrystals are highly promising nano-objects which demonstrate many bio-related properties not achievable for other materials and systems. In particular, the silicon nanocrystals and nanoparticles can be useful for imaging of cancer cells [71], for controlling active oxygen in the biomedical applications [72,73], for biosensing [74], single-molecule tracking [75], as biocompatible fluorescent nanolabels [76], delivery systems [77], and nutritional food additive [78]. Various aspects of the silicon nanoparticle interaction with live tissues and cells are now extensively studied including genotoxicity and reproductive toxicity [79], behaviour in live cells [80,81], applications in cell biology and medicine [82,83] and other in vivo applications [84].…”

Section: Plasma-engineered Si Nanocrystals and Si Nanocrystals-carbonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel biomaterials: plasma-enabled nanostructures and functions

Levchenko¹,

Keidar²,

Cvelbar³

et al. 2016

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

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Material processing techniques utilizing low-temperature plasmas as the main process tool feature many unique capabilities for the fabrication of various nanostructured materials. As compared with the neutral-gas based techniques and methods, the plasma-based approaches offer higher levels of energy and flux controllability, often leading to higher quality of the fabricated nanomaterials and sometimes to the synthesis of the hierarchical materials with interesting properties. Among others, nanoscale biomaterials attract significant attention due to their special properties towards the biological materials (proteins, enzymes), living cells and tissues. This review briefly examines various approaches based on the use of low-temperature plasma environments to fabricate nanoscale biomaterials exhibiting high biological activity, biological inertness for drug delivery system, and other features of the biomaterials make them highly attractive. In particular, we briefly discuss the plasma-assisted fabrication of gold and silicon nanoparticles for bio-applications; carbon nanoparticles for bioimaging and cancer therapy; carbon nanotube-based platforms for enzyme production and bacteria growth control, and other applications of low-temperature plasmas in the production of biologically-active materials.

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Section: Plasma-engineered Si Nanocrystals and Si Nanocrystals-carbonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel biomaterials: plasma-enabled nanostructures and functions

Levchenko¹,

Keidar²,

Cvelbar³

et al. 2016

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

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“…To overcome this kind of uncertainties in assessing the role of oxide states in the PL emission, here, we compare the spectroscopic properties of the same batch of crystalline Si nanoparticles, as prepared by laser pyrolysis 12 and after complete conversion to amorphous silica by alkali etching-assisted oxidation procedure. 24,46 Si nanoparticles have been synthesized by CO 2 laserdriven pyrolysis process in a continuous gas-flow reactor using silane (SiH 4 ) as gas precursor. The experimental setup and the procedures for laser synthesis of Si-nc with variable size are described in detail elsewhere.…”

Section: Optical Properties Of As-prepared and Oxidized Si-ncmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although both types of red NIR and blue-emitting Si-nc have shown a great potential for use in biological imaging, [19][20][21][22]24,[27][28][29] efforts are still needed to further improve their performances. A real control of the PL emission spectrum of Si-nc is not yet reached, and results on the optical properties are often dependent on the sample surface modifications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…24 In this respect, here, we report two standard in vitro assays performed on cells exposed for different times and at different concentrations to Si-nc. The lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage assay assesses the integrity of the plasma membrane, and the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay tests the ability of the mitochondria to convert the MTT into formazan.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…25,26 One further advantage offered by the use of slow red-emitting Si-nc is the possibility to eliminate the fast (few nanoseconds) skin autofluorescence as well as the luminescence emitted by most of the bioorganic materials by the use of time-resolved detection techniques. 24 Recently, biocompatible Si-nc encapsulated in phospholipid-poly(ethylene glycol) micelles were successfully used for imaging in multiple cancerrelated in vivo applications, including tumor vasculature targeting, sentinel lymph node mapping, and multicolor NIR imaging in live mice. 27 In this experiment, PL emission from Si-nc at different spots in the tissues was easily separated from the autofluorescence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An outlook on the potential of Si nanocrystals as luminescent probes for bioimaging

et al. 2012

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Silicon nanocrystals (Si-nc) present several plus points as advanced fluorescent biomarkers but suffer from difficulties met in controlling their intrinsic photoluminescence (PL). Here, we first consider the reasons for this difficulty, showing results that support an interface defect-related origin of the PL. Attainment of a controlled PL emission would then require tuning of defects in the capping oxide, a hard and yet unaddressed task. Alternatively, we demonstrate the possible use of Si-nc as antennas, or sensitizers, of a luminescent rare-earth ion in an engineered fluorophore. In this approach the relatively high and broadband optical absorption of Si-nc was exploited, keeping the advantages of a near-infrared inorganic light emitter. Another fundamental part of the assessment of Si-nc for bioimaging is their biocompatibility. Here, we report toxicity tests based on the lactate dehydrogenase release and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assays on epithelial cells and fibroblasts, confirming that Si-nc in concentration suitable for luminescent labeling do not affect significantly the cells viability.

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