Issue 14, 2022

Controlled synthesis of SPION@SiO2 nanoparticles using design of experiments

Abstract

The synthesis of single-core superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) coated with a silica shell of controlled thickness remains a challenge, due to the dependence on a multitude of experimental variables. Herein, we utilise design of experiment (DoE) to study the formation of SPION@SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) via reverse microemulsion. Using a 33 full factorial design, the influence of reactant concentration of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH), as well as the number of fractionated additions of TEOS on the silica shell was investigated with the aim of minimising polydispersity and increasing the population of SPION@SiO2 NPs formed. This investigation facilitated a reproducible and controlled approach for the high yield synthesis of SPION@SiO2 NPs with uniform silica shell thickness. Application of a multiple linear regression analysis established a relationship between the applied experimental variables and the resulting silica shell thickness. These experimental variables were similarly found to dictate the monodispersity of the SPION@SiO2 NPs formed. The overall population of single-core@shell particles was dependent on the interaction between the number of moles of TEOS and NH4OH, with no influence from the number of fractionated additions of TEOS. This work demonstrates the complexity of the preparative method and produces an accessible and flexible synthetic model to achieve monodisperse SPION@SiO2 NPs with controllable shell thickness.

Graphical abstract: Controlled synthesis of SPION@SiO2 nanoparticles using design of experiments

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
31 Mar 2022
Accepted
24 May 2022
First published
31 May 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Mater. Adv., 2022,3, 6007-6018

Controlled synthesis of SPION@SiO2 nanoparticles using design of experiments

C. L. G. Harman, N. Mac Fhionnlaoich, A. M. King, J. R. H. Manning, W. Lin, P. Scholes, S. Guldin and G. Davies, Mater. Adv., 2022, 3, 6007 DOI: 10.1039/D2MA00369D

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