Biomedical uses of porous silicon

Abstract

The versatility of porous silicon (pSi), due to the myriad of possible structures, ease of chemical modification and inherent biocompatibility, has resulted in it being readily tailored for numerous biomedical applications. Commonly prepared via the anodisation of crystalline silicon wafers in HF electrolyte, pSi can be produced as films, microparticles, nanoparticles and free-standing membranes. The combination of both its unique physical properties and the incorporation of stable surface functionalities have been fundamental to its performance. Through an immense number of modification techniques, numerous species from antibodies to polymers can be integrated into pSi structures. This adaptability has produced materials with an increased half-life both in vitro and in vivo and enabled the development of both targeted detection platforms and local delivery of therapeutic payloads. As a result, modified pSi has been readily applied to a range of biomedical applications including molecular detection, drug delivery, cancer therapy, imaging and tissue engineering.