Scalable synthesis of multicomponent multifunctional inorganic core@mesoporous silica shell nanocomposites

Integrating multiple materials with different functionalities in a single nanostructure enables advances in many scientific and technological applications.However, such highly sophisticated nanomaterials usually require complex synthesis processes that complicate their preparation in a sustainable and industrially feasible manner.Herein, we designed a simple general method to grow a mesoporous silica shell onto any combination of hydrophilic nanoparticle cores.The synthetic strategy, based on the adjustment of the key parameters of the sol-gel process for the silica shell formation, allows for the embedment of single, double, and triple inorganic nanoparticles within the same shell, as well as the size-control of the obtained nanocomposites.No additional interfacial adhesive layer is required on the nanoparticle surfaces for the embedding process.Thus, electrostatically stabilized, small sized (from 4 to 15 nm) CeO2, Fe3O4, Gd2O3, NaYF4, Au, and Ag cores were used to test the methodology.The mean diameter of the nanocomposites can be as low as 55 nm, with high monodispersity.These are very feasible sizes for biological intervention, and we observed increased nanoparticle stability in physiological environments, and the antioxidant activity of CeO2 cores was enhanced in these core-shell structures.Remarkably, the method is conducted entirely at room temperature and atmospheric conditions in aqueous solvent with the use of ethanol as co-solvent, which favors scalability and the easy preparation of multicomponent nanocomposite libraries with standard laboratory glassware and simple benchtop chemistry through this sustainable, and cost-effective fabrication process.