UCLA

Mesoporous silica materials can range from films to nanoparticles. Due to the Si-OH groups on the surface of the materials they can be functionalized to control the pore openings. Some examples of these functionalizations are the attachment of polymers or molecules that serve as a pore cap. This leads to a wide variety of applications because of their ability to contain cargo molecules. The work covered in this thesis focuses on the development of different mesoporous silica materials for the purpose of trapping various cargo molecules for cargo delivery and sensing applications. The first project discusses the thermal trapping and release of cargo molecules of a mesoporous silica film with a thermal sensitive polymer attached to the surface. The second project focuses on a light activated polymer attached to MCM-41 silica nanoparticles and the delivery of fluorescent molecules inside of cells. The third project discussed in this thesis utilizes hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles to crystalize a perchlorate sensor inside the core to be used as "smart sand" for perchlorate detection. The last project focuses on periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) nanoparticles and their ability to trap and release cargo molecules. This research demonstrates the versatility of mesoporous silica materials and its potential in both microscopic and macroscopic applications.