M-SNPs were synthesized using 53.4 g of DI water, 6.24 g of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (Sigma-Aldrich) and 0.3 g of sodium acetate (Sigma-Aldrich), were mixed well, and then heated in a 65 °C oil bath. After heating for 1 h, 3.9 ml of tetraethoxysilane was slowly added to the mixture and then stirred for 24 h. The resulting suspensions were purified by centrifugation, re-dispersed in ethanol and DI water, and then finally re-dispersed in DI water.
P-SNPs were prepared by surface functionalization of S-SNP. Briefly, thiol-functionalized S-SNP was prepared by adding (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane (10% of tetraethoxysilane) 5 h after the addition of NH4OH during synthesis of S-SNP. After purification, these particles were conjugated with maleimide-functionalized PEG (molecular weight: 2000) in DI water for 24 h (weight ratio: ~0.5:1). Excess amount of PEG was removed by centrifugation and dispersed in DI water to obtain P-SNP.