In this work, Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ nanoparticles were coated with mesoporous silica shell by S⁻N⁺I⁻ pathway by using anionic surfactant (S⁻) and co-structure directing agent (N⁺). The role of co-structure directing agent (CSDA) is to assist the electrostatic interaction between negatively charged silica layers and the negatively charged surfactant molecules. Prior to the mesoporous shell formation step, magnetic cores were coated with a dense silica layer to prevent iron oxide cores from leaching into the mother system under any acidic circumstances. However, it was found that both dense and mesoporous coating parameters affect the textural properties of the produced mesoporous silica shell (i.e., surface area, pore volume and shell thickness). The synthesized Fe₃O₄@SiO₂@m-SiO₂ (MCMSS) nanoparticles have been characterized by low-angle X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and N₂ adsorption-desorption analysis, and magnetic properties. The synthesized particles had dense and mesoporous silica shells of 8–37 nm and 26–50 nm, respectively. Furthermore, MCMSS possessed surface area of ca. 259–621 m²·g⁻¹, and pore volume of ca. 0.216–0.443 cc·g⁻¹. MCMSS showed docetaxcel cancer drug storage capacity of 25–33 w/w% and possessed control release from their mesochannels which suggest them as proper nanocarriers for docetaxcel molecules. Full article

In this work, mesoporous shells were constructed on solid silica cores by employing anionic surfactante. A co-structure directing agent (CSDA) has assisted the electrostatic interaction between negatively charged silica particles and the negatively charged surfactant molecules. Synthetic parameters such as reaction time and temperature had a significant impact on the formation of mesoporous silica shelld and their textural properties such as surface area and pore volume. Core-mesoporous shell silica spheres were characterized by small angle X-ray scattering, transmission electron microscopy, and N₂ adsorption–desorption analysis. The synthesized particles have a uniformly mesoporous shell of 34–65 nm and possess a surface area of ca. 7–324 m²/g, and pore volume of ca. 0.008–0.261 cc/g. The core-mesoporous shell silica spheres were loaded with ketoprofen drug molecules. The in vitro drug release study suggested that core-mesoporous shell silica spheres are a suitable nanocarrier for drug molecules offering the possibility of having control over their release rate. Full article