Issue 8, 2012

Ultrasmall water-soluble metal-iron oxide nanoparticles as T1-weighted contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

Using an improved hydrolysis method of inorganic salts assisted with water-bath incubation, ultrasmall water-soluble metal-iron oxide nanoparticles (including Fe3O4, ZnFe2O4 and NiFe2O4 nanoparticles) were synthesized in aqueous solutions, which were used as T1-weighted contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The morphology, structure, MRI relaxation properties and cytotoxicity of the as-prepared metal-iron oxide nanoparticles were characterized, respectively. The results showed that the average sizes of nanoparticles were about 4 nm, 4 nm and 5 nm for Fe3O4, ZnFe2O4 and NiFe2O4 nanoparticles, respectively. Moreover, the nanoparticles have good water dispersibility and low cytotoxicity. The MRI test showed the strong T1-weighted, but the weak T2-weighted MRI performance of metal-iron oxide nanoparticles. The high T1-weighted MRI performance can be attributed to the ultrasmall size of metal-iron oxide nanoparticles. Therefore, the as-prepared metal-iron oxide nanoparticles with good water dispersibility and ultrasmall size can have potential applications as T1-weighted contrast agent materials for MRI.

Graphical abstract: Ultrasmall water-soluble metal-iron oxide nanoparticles as T1-weighted contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Oct 2011
Accepted
14 Dec 2011
First published
14 Dec 2011

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2012,14, 2631-2636

Ultrasmall water-soluble metal-iron oxide nanoparticles as T1-weighted contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging

L. Zeng, W. Ren, J. Zheng, P. Cui and A. Wu, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2012, 14, 2631 DOI: 10.1039/C2CP23196D

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