Porous Silica Nanoparticles for Targeted Bio-Imaging and Drug Delivery Applications

Abstract

Silica nanohybrids possess tremendous applications in bioimaging and drug delivery owing to their versatile optical, mechanical, and electrical characteristics. Silica can be easily tailored for the design of functional nanomaterials that are capable of producing site-specific drug release with minimal side effects. The combination of inorganic silica with organic biomaterials is being widely explored for achieving next-generation therapeutic efficacy owing to its capacity to control the drug release pattern. Further, the biocompatibility of nanohybrids has led to the recognition of such systems by the United States Food and Drug Administration as safe for use in human beings. In this chapter, a detailed description of the various silica nanohybrids that have been explored by researchers, such as silica-polymer, silica-protein, silica-peptide, silica-nucleic acid, silica-magnetic, and silica-quantum dot nanohybrids, is provided with a special focus on the method of functionalization, fabrication, and biological activity exerted by the organic-inorganic hybrid systems. © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Rohit Srivastava, Sujit Kumar Debnath, and Rajendra Prasad; individual chapters, the contributors.