We report the magnetic behavior, relaxometry, phantom magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and near-infrared (NIR) photoluminescence spectroscopy of gadolinium (Gd) catalyzed single-walled carbon nanotubes (Gd-SWCNTs). Gd-SWCNTs are paramagnetic with an effective magnetic moment of 7.29 l B . Gd-SWCNT solutions show high r 1 and r 2 relaxivities at very low (0.01 MHz) to clinically relevant (61 MHz) magnetic fields (). Analysis of nuclear magnetic resonance dispersion profiles using Solomon, Bloembergen, and Morgan equations suggests that multiple structural and dynamic parameters such as rotational correlation time s R , rate of water exchange s M , and the number of fast-exchanging water molecules within the inner sphere q may be responsible for the increase in r 1 and r 2 relaxivity. The T 1 weighted MRI signal intensity (gradient echo sequence; repetition time (TR) ¼ 66 ms, echo time (TE) ¼ 3 ms, flop angle ¼ 108 ) of Gd-SWCNT phantom solution is 14 times greater than the Gd-based clinical MRI contrast agent Magnevist. Additionally, these nanotubes exhibit near infrared fluorescence with distinct E 11 transitions of several semiconducting SWCNTs. Taken together, these results demonstrate that Gd-SWCNTs have potential as a novel, highly efficacious, multimodal MRI-NIR optical imaging contrast agent. V C 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx