Fabrication of carbon coated gadolinia particles for dual-mode magnetic resonance and fluorescence imaging

In the present study, we report a fabrication of dual-mode carbon coated gadolinia C@Gd2O3 particles by a facile hydrothermal synthesis method without using any organic solvents. The prepared C@Gd2O3 particles have a core-shell structure and a narrow size distribution in the range of 261 +/- 27 nm. The fluorescent properties of the prepared C@Gd2O3 particles were accessed by a room-temperature photoluminescence study, while the longitudinal relaxivity (r(1)) was examined by using a clinical 1.5 T MRI scanner. A murine fibroblast L-929 cell line was used to examine the cytotoxicity and capability of the prepared C@Gd2O3 particles for the fluorescent labeling. The obtained results show that the prepared C@Gd2O3 particles could be used as a dual-mode contrast agent for magnetic resonance and fluorescence imaging.