Patent ID: 8580311

Claim:
A method for the preparation of polymer-templated core-shell nanoparticles comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a cationic polymeric core material comprising polymeric micelles employing a quaternized polymer comprising the steps of (i) preparing diblock copolymer micelles comprising poly[2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl methacrylate)-block-2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate]copolymer (PDPA-PDMA); (ii) partially or fully quaternizing the tertiary amino groups of 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate; and (b) coating said core material with a shell comprising silica by depositing the shell onto the polymeric micelles from at least one silica precursor by stirring the core material with a silica precursor for between 10 and 60 minutes at 5 to 30° C. and a pH of between 6.2 and 9.0 to form the core-shell nanoparticles comprising silica shell having thickness of at least 5 nm.