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Colloidal nano- and micro-particles can introduce new properties and functionalities to existing materials and thus are a valuable building block for the construction of novel materials. This is discussed for the case of ion-selective ligands, hence molecules that can bind specifically ions of one type. First, in case ion-selective fluorescent ligands are attached to the surface of particles, these fluorophores sense the local ion concentration at the particle surface and not the bulk ion concentration. Thus, the ion-response of the ligands can be tuned by attaching them to the surface of particles. Second, in case ligands specific for particular ions are bound to the surface of particles, these ions can provide contrast and thus the particles can be imaged. This involves for example Gd-ions, which provide contrast for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and  111 In-ions, which provide contrast for imaging of radioactivity. By attaching the ligands to the surface of particles, their physicochemical properties (as for example size and solubility) are changed, which affects their interaction with cells and, consequently, biodistribution. Attachment of ion-chelators for imaging to particles thus allows for tuning their biodistribution. Third, ion-specific ligands can be also attached to the surface of magnetic particles. In this case ions bound to the ligands can be extracted with magnetic field gradients and magnetic separation becomes possible. Therefore, magnetic particles provide a handle to the ligands, which enables the extraction of ions from solution. These examples demonstrate how the attachment of different types of colloidal particles to one existing class of molecules, ion-selective ligands, can open new fields of applications of these molecules.

Ion-Selective Ligands: How Colloidal Nano- and Micro-Particles Can Introduce New Functionalities