Core radius and shell thickness of HEC-functionalised silica nanoparticles as determined by fitting SANS data to a core–shell model, along with the calculated number of particles per aggregate as described in ESI.

Sample	Core radius (nm)	Shell thickness (nm)	Total diameter (nm)	Estimated particles per aggregate
Y1	15.2	0.5	31	1
Y2	17.2	0.5	35	1
Y3	17.9	3.0	41	6
Y4	14.6	3.0	35	44
Y5	17.5	3.4	42	230