The importance of core-shell nanostructures (nano-shells) continues to grow. The significance of these dielectric silica cores surrounded by metallic shells of varying thickness is due to the multitude of applications of these materials in medicine and engineering. Silica-core/gold-shell nanoparticles have the potential to be implemented in radiation therapy for cancer treatment; these particles can absorb radiation in the 700-900 nm range to target cancerous cells while leaving the surrounding, healthy tissue unharmed. Silica-core/palladium-shell nanoparticles can also act as catalysts in a myriad of reactions, including hydrogenation. Thus, the value of the production of these nanoparticles comes from their numerous functions. We are currently involved in synthesis of gold nano-shells on silica cores with 200 nm diameters. The palladium nano-shells have been successfully generated using <i>in situ</i> formation of palladium seeds on the silica core with subsequent palladium shell formation. In addition, we have obtained preliminary results in our efforts to generate the gold nano-shells using our <i>in situ </i>methods. The characterization of the nano-shells at several stages during synthesis has been achieved using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and zeta potential measurements.

Synthesis of gold-silica core-shell nanostructures

254th National Meeting (2017)

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