Carrier particles for active agents, catalysts or sensor dyes



Due to their specially adjustable properties, silica-based microparticles/supraparticles produced by spray drying or other assembly processes are ideally suited as carrier structures for applications in catalysis, sensor technology or as active substance transport systems.
Challenge
Particles for use as carrier structures should, on the one hand, be cost-effective and producible on a large scale; on the other hand, depending on the requirements, they should be characterised by large particle surfaces, adjustable accessibility, high biocompatibility, good temperature resistance and combinations thereof. All these requirements can be addressed with spray-dried silica-based microparticles/supraparticles.
System
By using primary particles of different sizes, the particle surface and the pore size distribution of the microparticles can be specifically adjusted to meet the desired requirements. The large and at the same time accessible particle surface, in combination with a high thermal stability, qualify silica superparticles for use in catalysis applications. Catalytically active materials can be introduced directly into the silica carrier structure using a modular principle. Silane chemistry makes it possible to apply additional functional groups to the supraparticles. This can be used to covalently or adsorptively bind dyes to the particle surface. By using suitable sensor dyes and building “mole-hill” structures, the silica superparticles can be used to produce layers for optical gas sensors. A fast response is achieved by the high particle surface and the good gas accessibility. In the case of a reversible reaction, there is also a rapid back reaction, since there is no gas accumulation in the particles.
Offer
Development and production of application-specific carrier particles for various target substances.