Exploring precision polymers to fine-tune magnetic resonance imaging properties of iron oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

Please refer to published version for the most recent bibliographic citation information. If a published version is known of, the repository item page linked to above, will contain details on accessing it.

Controlled synthesis of SPION@SiO2nanoparticles using design of experiments

“…[5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Most notably, these materials have shown excellent potential in biomedical diagnostic and therapeutic applications including, but not limited to, point-of-care diagnostics, magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents, hyperthermic cancer treatments, and targeted drug delivery. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Synthetic pathways to SPIONs are diverse, including coprecipitation, hydrothermal or thermal decomposition, solvothermal, and sol-gel reactions, with choice of reaction depending on the desired particle size, shape, hydrophilicity/phobicity and surface functionalities. [20][21][22][23][24] As the magnetic properties of SPIONs are dependent on their size and shape, control of such characteristics, as well as uniformity of SPIONs, is critical.…”

“…Without this coating, the poor colloidal stability of SPIONs often leads to agglomeration under physiological conditions, leading to increased toxicity via red blood cell damage and haemolysis. 14,31,32 Furthermore, uncoated SPIONs are susceptible to oxidation, which can contribute to changes in magnetic properties and chemical behaviour. 2,8,33 There are various coating strategies to achieve this, including both covalent and non-covalent synthetic methods such as: surface stabilisation with citric acid; capping with oleic acid; adsorption of polymers; or coating with inorganic material, such as silica (SiO 2 ).…”

“…2,8,33 There are various coating strategies to achieve this, including both covalent and non-covalent synthetic methods such as: surface stabilisation with citric acid; capping with oleic acid; adsorption of polymers; or coating with inorganic material, such as silica (SiO 2 ). 14,15,29,34 The latter is of particular interest as SiO 2 coated SPIONs are able to undergo subsequent surface modification with a variety of silanes or ligands due to readily modifiable silica chemistry. 29,[35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43] This provides the opportunity for functionalisation with an array of molecules such as fluorescent dyes, bio-compatible, biological or targeting ligands.…”

“…5–11 Most notably, these materials have shown excellent potential in biomedical diagnostic and therapeutic applications including, but not limited to, point-of-care diagnostics, magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents, hyperthermic cancer treatments, and targeted drug delivery. 12–19…”

Microwave-assisted flow synthesis of multicore iron oxide nanoparticles

“…[16,17]) when dissolved in water, contributing to the formation of cluster-like structures. The clustered nanostructures have interesting properties, for instance in magnetic hyperthermia [18][19][20][21][22] and as MRI contrast agents [23][24][25]. Reproducible synthesis of multicore structures is a complex task, particularly regarding control over the number of particles composing the assembly [15].…”