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A General Strategy to Encapsulate Semiconducting Polymers within PEGylated Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for Optical Imaging and Drug Delivery
Author(s) -
Lu Feng,
Zhan Chen,
Gong Yi,
Tang Yufu,
Xie Chen,
Wang Qi,
Wang Wenjun,
Fan Quli,
Huang Wei
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
particle and particle systems characterization
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.877
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1521-4117
pISSN - 0934-0866
DOI - 10.1002/ppsc.201900483
Subject(s) - materials science , polymer , mesoporous silica , nanotechnology , nanoparticle , drug delivery , amphiphile , coating , cationic polymerization , surface modification , mesoporous material , micelle , aqueous solution , chemical engineering , copolymer , chemistry , organic chemistry , polymer chemistry , composite material , catalysis , engineering
Abstract Although semiconducting polymers (SPs) have become an important category for optical imaging and phototherapy, their biomedical application is still facing a number of challenges. Herein, a cationic surfactant–assisted approach to encapsulate hydrophobic SPs within highly PEGylated mesoporous silica (mSiO 2 ) nanoparticles with excellent colloidal stability and enhanced fluorescence in aqueous solution is reported. In comparison to the previously reported amphiphilic polymer coating and silification method, this universal strategy not only suppresses the formation of empty polymer micelles and free silica nanoparticles, but also provides high specific surface area for drug loading. As a proof of concept, furan‐containing diketopyrrolopyrrole‐based semiconducting polymers (PDFT) are coated with mesoporous silica and utilized for fluorescence imaging in the second near‐infrared region (NIR‐II, 1000–1700 nm) and drug delivery. In vivo blood vessel imaging and tumor imaging are achieved with high resolution (0.21 mm) and signal‐to‐background ratio (≈4.2). Additionally, pH‐responsive drug release and improved therapeutic effect are observed. By choosing desired SPs, different optical imaging and therapeutic modalities can also be achieved, thus the SP@mSiO 2 nanostructures obtained here provide numerous opportunities for theranostic applications.