Synthesis of wrinkled mesoporous silica encapsulated gold nanoparticles

Wrinkled mesoporous silica features a distinctive flower-like morphology with 3D conical pores. The synthesis of wrinkled mesoporous silica with a nanosized core containing encapsulated gold nanoparticles is reported. The results demonstrate the exclusive encapsulation of gold nanoparticles in the WMS core. Smaller gold nanoparticles (< 2 nm) prove to be more effectively encapsulated compared to larger nanoparticles by ̴27%. This results in the formation of fluorescent gold Au@WMS nanoparticles. Unless the gold is monodisperse it would be difficult to encapsulate < 2 nm gold selectively. The Au@WMS particles were characterized by TEM, SEM, XRD, nitrogen adsorption, UV-Vis, TGA and fluorescence spectroscopy. Compared to other mesoporous silica supports, WMS supports the gold nanoparticles in the core versus the pores.