A facile one-pot synthesis of d-glucuronic acid-coated ultrasmall Ln(2)O(3) (Ln = Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, and Er) nanoparticles is presented. Their water proton relaxivities were studied to address their possibility as a new potential MRI contrast agent. We focused on the d-glucuronic acid-coated ultrasmall Dy(2)O(3) nanoparticle because it showed the highest r(2) relaxivity among studied nanoparticles. Its performance as a T(2) MRI contrast agent was for the first time proved in vivo through its 3 T T(2) MR images of a mouse, showing that it can be further exploited for the rational design of a new T(2) MRI contrast agent at high MR fields.

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Coprecipitated ferrite nanoparticles were coated with carbon using a hydrothermal method. From transmission electron microscope pictures, we could see that the coated iron oxide nanoparticles were spherical in shape with an average diameter of 90 nm. The strong bonding of carbon on the nanoparticle surfaces was checked by noting the C = O and C = C vibrations in Fourier transform infrared spectra. The spin-lattice relaxation process [T1] and spin-spin relaxation process [T2] relaxivities of hydrogen protons in the aqueous solution of coated nanoparticles were determined to be 1.139 (mM·s)-1 and 1.115 (mM·s)-1, respectively. These results showed that the carbon-coated iron oxide nanoparticles are applicable as both T1 and T2 contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging.PACS: 81.05.y; 76.60.Es; 61.46; 75.50.k; 87.61.

Gold-coated iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles were synthesized for use as a T2 contrast agent in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The coated nanoparticles were spherical in shape with an average diameter of 20 nm. The gold shell was about 2 nm thick. The bonding status of the gold on the nanoparticle surfaces was checked using a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR). The FTIR spectra confirmed the attachment of homocysteine, in the form of thiolates, to the Au shell of the Au-Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The relaxivity ratio, R2/R1, for the coated nanoparticles was 3-fold higher than that of a commercial contrast agent, Resovist, which showed the potential for their use as a T2 contrast agent with high efficacy. In animal experiments, the presence of the nanoparticles in rat liver resulted in a 71% decrease in signal intensity in T2-weighted MR images, indicating that our gold-coated iron oxide nanoparticles are suitable for use as a T2 contrast agent in MRI.

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