Facile preparation of biocompatible nano‐platforms for computed tomography (CT) is demanding. In this work, PEGylated melanin nanoparticles (MNPs) are prepared and reacted with barium ions as CT imaging contrast agent (Ba‐MNPs‐mPEG). It is found that the hydrodynamic size of MNPs is in accordance with size of MNPs measured by electron microscopy (4±1 nm). The zeta potential of MNPs reduces by PEGylation and chelating with Ba2+ ions. Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) analysis proposed that OH and NH groups of MNPs are possible binding sites for Ba2+ ions. The prepared Ba‐MNPs‐mPEG shows no significant cytotoxicity at concentration up to 100 ppm of barium concentration after 24 h. Finally, our results indicated that the X‐ray attenuation of Ba‐MNPs‐mPEG is similar and slightly higher than Iohexol as the commercially available iodinated contrasting agent at the same concentrations.
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