Janus colloidal particles: Preparation, properties, and biomedical applications

Abstract

Janus or anisotropic colloidal particles comprising of at least two components of different chemistry, functionality, and/or polarity have attracted attentions in a wide range of applications, e.g., in optics, magnetics, plasmonics, colloidal chemistry, and biomedicine. The interesting features of Janus colloidal particles are attributed to their tunable and controllable asymmetric structure, which allows controlling their physicochemical properties, down to the nanoscale. Moreover, their synergistic potential for multiplexing, multilevel targeting, and combination therapies make them particularly attractive for biomedical applications. However, the synthesis of Janus colloidal particles must be well-adapted to get particles with precise control of their various structural/physical/chemical properties. Nowadays, the advance in new fabrication processes is a strong need for fabricating compact composite particles with spatially separated functionalities, uniform size, tunable composition, and effective response to stimuli.In this review article, we summarized the most recent representative works on Janus colloidal particles including the various fabrication methods, important properties, and their potential applications, particularly in the biomedical field. © 2013 American Chemical Society.