Multifunctional nanoparticles/silica microsphere assemblies using polyglycidyl methacrylate shells as supports

A general method to prepare functional (or multifunctional) nanoparticles/silica microsphere assemblies is reported in this article. A thin shell of polyglycidyl methacrylate is grafted on the surface of silica through surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization technique. And then, various types of nanoparticles, including water-soluble CdTe quantum dots, Au nanoparticles and oil-soluble Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles are assembled on silica microspheres, respectively, or simultaneously. The properties of the assembled nanoparticles are well retained in the nanocomposite assemblies, and the controllable integration of magnetic and fluorescent properties can be achieved through varying the proportion of different nanoparticles assembled on nanoparticle/silica microsphere.