Free-standing liposomal nanohybrid cerasomes as ideal materials for sensing of cupric ions.

Super-stable and free-standing cerasomes with inorganic polyorganosiloxane surfaces were developed for the sensing of Cu(2+) by encapsulating Nile red (NR) dye as a fluorescence reporter. 1,2-Dimynistoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylethanolamine (DMPE) was incorporated into the cerasomes to serve as the chelating agent for cupric ions. The intraparticle energy transfer from NR to Cu(2+) caused the fluorescence quenching of NR, showing the prospect of these cerasomes as a fluorescence "turn-off" sensor for the detection of trace copper ions.