The preparation of fluorescent nano dye-silica particles by sol-gel process

The core-shell structure of dye-silica nanoparticle has been prepared. The dye-silica nanoparticle can be used as a substitute of fluorescent dye for bio analysis. The hybrid organic-inorganic nanoparticle was prepared by sol-gel process using organic modified silane as the coupling agent for flourescent dye and silica. The size of the particle was about 50 run, which was measured by DLS and confirmed by SEM photograph. The fluorescent dye (fluorescein-5-maleimide) was reacted with (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxy silane to produce dye-silane compound, followed by the sol-gel reaction with tetraethoxysilane(TEOS) and water to produce core-shell structure. The fluorescent spectrum showed that the fluorescent intensity of dye-silica nanoparticle was higher than that of fluorescent dye.