Recent advances in surface engineering of porous silicon nanomaterials for biomedical applications

Abstract Surface engineering of the nanomaterials opens a new era of their biomedical applications. To date, various kinds of nanoparticles and their surface engineering techniques have been developed and applied to drug-delivery systems, bio-imaging, sensors, disease diagnosis, and therapy. Among them, nanostructured porous silicon (pSi) materials have been highlighted due to their unique properties in the biological system. This review focuses on the recent advances in surface engineering of porous silicon nanoparticles (pSiNPs) from a chemistry viewpoint. Conventional surface functionalization strategies and fabrication methods for pSiNPs are outlined with a schematic map, followed by the recently developed new techniques to maximize the properties of pSiNPs and overcome the drawbacks of known methods. New chemical reagents and chemical reactions for the surface engineering of pSiNPs are the main focus covered in this review. We also described the new approaches of polymer hybridization. Finally, the current status of pSi surface engineering, its future prospects, and challenges in biomedical applications are discussed.