Particle size control of monodispersed spherical nanoparticles with MCM-48-type mesostructure via novel rapid synthesis procedure

Monodispersed spherical silica nanoparticles with a cubic mesostructure were synthesized in a fast and innovative way using triethanolamine (TEA) and the triblock copolymer Pluronic® F127 as particle growth inhibitors to control the particle size in a range from 420 to 62 nm. In this study, we described a synthesis of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) with MCM-48 structure at room temperature with adequate control of particle monodispersity, shape, and size using TEA. Based on particle characterization, TEA can efficiently act as catalyst and at the same time as particle growth controlling additive. A mixture of TEA and Pluronic® F127 additives was used to obtain very small MSNs (62 nm), whereby the quality of MCM-48 silica is associated with the composition of the additives used and thus also with the final particle size. A finely dispersed and high-quality MCM-48 material with ~ 100% yield, excellent textural properties, and a particle size of 295 nm was synthesized within only 35 min using excess TEA as particle size controlling and dispersion agent together with ammonia as additional catalyst. Solvent extraction combined with ion exchange removed the surfactant efficiently. All prepared MSNs showed good textural properties, tunable particle sizes with narrow size distributions, and good dispersity in water, which make them highly promising as carriers for biomolecules in biomedical applications.