Mesoporous silica

[12] Six years later, silica nanoparticles with much larger (4.6 to 30 nanometer) pores were produced at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Today, mesoporous silica nanoparticles have many applications in medicine, biosensors,[14] thermal energy storage,[15] water/gas filtration [16] and imaging.

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles are synthesized by reacting tetraethyl orthosilicate with a template made of micellar rods.

[3][19][20] Ordered mesoporous silica (e.g. SBA-15,[21] TUD-1,[22] HMM-33,[1] and FSM-16[23]) also show potential to boost the in vitro and in vivo dissolution of poorly water-soluble drugs.

An insufficient dissolution of these hydrophobic drugs in the gastrointestinal fluids strongly limits the oral bioavailability.

Upon introduction of itraconazole-on-SBA-15 formulation in simulated gastrointestinal fluids, a supersaturated solution is obtained giving rise to enhanced transepithelial intestinal transport.

The types of molecules that are grafted to the outside of the MSNs will control what kinds of biomolecules are allowed inside the particles to interact with the dye.