“…It is worth mention that the Si 2p spectra of NH 2 -MSNs showed a single peak at 102.3 eV, which was marginally higher than that of NH 2 -ASNs at 101.9 eV. Considering the fact that the characteristic Si 2p BE peaks of elementary Si and SiO 2 reported in the literature are at 99.5 and 103.5 eV 79 , respectively, our results imply that silicon in the surface layer of NH 2 -ASNs and NH 2 -MSNs may exist as intermediate sub-oxide phases (SiO x , 0 < x ≤ 1) rather than the fully oxidized SiO 2 79,80 due to a greater presence of elementary non-oxidized Si in the surface layers of NH 2 -ASNs and NH 2 -MSNs. Furthermore, these values were consistent with those reported for functionalized silica nanoparticles 39,81 , and mesoporous silica 6,46 systems.…”