Granted Patent B2

US 12,360,107 · App. 17/614,998 · Granted Jul 15, 2025

Inventors: Craig Aspinwall (Tucson, AZ); Colleen Janczak (Tucson, AZ)

Assignee: ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS ON BEHALF OF THE UNIVERISTY OF ARIZONA

G01N33/533C08K5/01C08K5/3415C09K11/025C09K11/06G01N33/542C09K2211/1007C09K2211/1018

Abstract

Claims (19)

1. A process for producing a gram scale of nanocomposite particle (“nanoSCINT particle”) adapted for use in scintillating proximity assay, wherein said nanoSCINT particle comprises a nanoparticle organic polymer doped with at least one scintillating compound, and wherein said nanoparticle organic polymer is encapsulated with a layer of silica shell, said process comprising:

producing said nanoparticle organic polymer by at least:

adding a first portion of a polymerization initiator to an emulsion comprising at least 0.1 mole/L of polymerizable organic compound and water at a first time;

adding a second portion of the polymerization initiator to the emulsion at a second time, wherein the first time is different from the second time;

wherein the first portion and the second portion of the polymerization initiator are added under conditions sufficient to produce the nanoparticle organic polymer:

adding at least one scintillating compound to said nanoparticle organic polymer to produce a nanocomposite material, wherein said nanocomposite material comprises said nanoparticle organic polymer that is doped with said scintillating compound; and

encapsulating said nanocomposite material with a silica shell to produce said nanocomposite particle.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein an initial concentration of polymerizable organic compound in said emulsion ranges from about 0.1 mole/L to about 0.5 mole/L.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein said polymerizable organic compound comprises styrene, divinylbenzene, polyvinyltoluene, polyvinylpyrrolidone, or a combination thereof.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein said scintillating compound comprises p-terphenyl (pTP); 1,4-bis(4-methyl-5-phenyl-2-oxazolyl)benzene (dimethyl POPOP); 1-phenyl-3-(2,3,6-trimethylphenyl)-2-pyrazoline (PMP); tris(1,3-diphenyl-1,3-propanedionato)-(1,10-phenanthroline) europium (III); diphenylanthracene; 1,4-bis(5-phenyl-2-oxazolyl)benzene; 1,4-bis(2-methylstyryl)benzene; anthracene; or a combination thereof.

5. The process of claim 4 , wherein said scintillating compound comprises a mixture of pTP and POPOP.

6. The process of claim 5 , wherein a ratio of pTP and POPOP is at least about 10:1.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein said process of encapsulating with a silica shell comprises contacting said nanocomposite material with a silica shell precursor compound under conditions sufficient to produce said nanoSCINT particle comprising said thin layer of silica shell, wherein said silica shell precursor compound comprises tetraethylorthosilicate (“TEOS”), 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, 3-mercaptopropyltrimethyoxysilane, or a combination thereof.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein said polymerization initiator comprises 2,2′-azobis(2-methylpropionamidine) dihydrochloride (AIBA), 2,2′-azobis(2-methylpropionitrile) (AIBN), or a combination thereof.

9. The process of claim 1 , wherein a ratio of said polymerizable organic compound to water is at least about 5 g per 200 ml of water.

10. The process of claim 1 , wherein producing said nanoparticle organic polymer further comprises adding a third portion of the polymerization initiator to the emulsion at a third time, wherein the third time is different from the first time and the second time.

11. The process of claim 10 , wherein a total amount of said polymerization initiator added is no more than about 1 mmol per 100 mmol of said polymerizable organic compound.

12. The process of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of silica shell is about 50 nm or less.

13. The process of claim 1 , wherein said process produces at least about 5 g of nanoSCINT particles in a single reaction batch.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (238)