Chemistry of Mesoporous Organosilica in Nanotechnology: Molecularly Organic–Inorganic Hybridization into Frameworks

Abstract

Organic-inorganic hybrid materials aiming to combine the individual advantages of organic and inorganic components while overcoming their intrinsic drawbacks have shown great potential for future applications in broad fields. In particular, the integration of functional organic fragments into the framework of mesoporous silica to fabricate mesoporous organosilica materials has attracted great attention in the scientific community for decades. The development of such mesoporous organosilica materials has shifted from bulk materials to nanosized mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (designated as MONs, in comparison with traditional mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs)) and corresponding applications in nanoscience and nanotechnology. In this comprehensive review, the state-of-art progress of this important hybrid nanomaterial family is summarized, focusing on the structure/composition-performance relationship of MONs of well-defined morphology, nanostructure, and nanoparticulate dimension. The synthetic strategies and the corresponding mechanisms for the design and construction of MONs with varied morphologies, compositions, nanostructures, and functionalities are overviewed initially. Then, the following part specifically concentrates on their broad spectrum of applications in nanotechnology, mainly in nanomedicine, nanocatalysis, and nanofabrication. Finally, some critical issues, presenting challenges and the future development of MONs regarding the rational synthesis and applications in nanotechnology are summarized and discussed. It is highly expected that such a unique molecularly organic-inorganic nanohybrid family will find practical applications in nanotechnology, and promote the advances of this discipline regarding hybrid chemistry and materials.

Glucose‐Responsive Sequential Generation of Hydrogen Peroxide and Nitric Oxide for Synergistic Cancer Starving‐Like/Gas Therapy

“…[15] Second, GOx and l-Arg are spatially separated on the surface and in the hollow cavity of HMON, respectively, allowing for a high coloading efficiency. Thirdly, thanks to the internal cavity, HMON serves as an ultrasound (US) imaging contrast agent for positioning tumors.…”

Biodegradable Magnetic Silica@Iron Oxide Nanovectors with Ultra-Large Mesopores for High Protein Loading, Magnetothermal Release, and Delivery

“…[37] Silica NPs are slowly degraded in water by dissolution into biocompatible and bioadsorbed silicic acid products, [38] and silica NPs are renally excreted. [39][40][41] The unique properties of MSN and silica hybrid NPs have been implemented in catalysis, [37,42] separation, [43][44][45] bio-imaging, [33,[46][47][48] and in cargo delivery applications, [34][35][36][37][49][50][51] to name a few. Large-pore silica and silica hybrid NPs have also been designed for biomedical applications.…”

Dopamine functionalized tannic-acid-templated mesoporous silica nanoparticles as a new sorbent for the efficient removal of Cu2+ from aqueous solution

“…For instance, the mesoporous solar cells (MSCs) have attracted significant attention with the potentialities to lower the cost of solar power9. Organic-inorganic hybrid materials can not only combine the individual advantages of organic or inorganic components, but also can overcome their shortcomings10. Notably, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) have attracted more and more attention with aims of being utilized as adsorbent materials owing to their biocompatibility, hydrophilic and easily functionalized surface, and high surface area11.…”

“…Gao and Zharov utilized TA as the template in the preparation of mesoporous silica materials with tunable mesopore sizes (from 6 to 13 nm)91011. Jiang et al .…”