Self-Assembly of Fluorescent Silica (glass) Beads

Keywords:
fluorescent bids, glass bids, flow cytometry, cell assays, detection

Abstract:
We report self-assembly of fluorescent silica (glass) bids. The bids are a few microns glass nanoporous particles which contain florescent dyes imbedded in the pores. The pores are self-closed, so the dye does not leak out being sealed inside the pores. The fluorescent activity of the bids is so high that there is no need in special fluorescent microscopy. Even ordinary dark-field microscopy mode is enough to detect the bids. The bids are stable for many hours (>8) of direct (blue) continuous laser excitation. It can survive direct open sun light showing from virtually none to ~50% (depending on the dye) intensity decrease after 6 hours of continuous irradiation (N44o latitude, middle of July, 10am-4pm.). Having silica outside, the bids are biocompatible and can be used for labeling in-vivo. Amount of possible colors/spectra is almost unlimited and restricted by the detector only.

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Nanotech 2005 Conference Program Abstract