Construction of Carbon Dots Coated Magnetic Hollow Silica Spheres

: Magnetic hollow silica spheres (MHSS) with uniform cavity size and shell thickness were prepared using functionalized SiO₂ spheres as templates, on which the magnetic particles were uniformly deposited on their surface. The obtained MHSS exhibited a super-paramagnetic behavior at room temperature. Due to large hollow cavity space and super-paramagnetic characteristics, the MHSS were coated with carbon dots with assistance of (3-Aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane (APS). Thus, the preparedMHSS were mixed with citric acid and APS, followed by hydrothermal reaction at 180 °C, to generate carbon quantum dots coated MHSS (MHSS@CDs). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray powder scattering (XRD), X-ray energy dispersive spectral analysis (EDS), Raman spectra and laser scattering particle analyzer were applied to characterize the MHSS and MHSS@CDs.