Single-Step Fabrication of Gd2O3@SiO2 Nanoparticles for use as MRI Contrast Agents by Pulsed Laser Ablation in Liquid

Gd2O3@SiO2 nanoparticles with a core-shell structure are synthesized by pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) in single steps. A Gd2O3 target immersed in tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) is ablated by a microsecond Nd:YAG laser, which induces the generation of a Gd2O3 plasma plume and pyrolysis of the TEOS. We propose that the moment Gd2O3 nanoparticles are formed they will be coated immediately by SiO2 and directly synthesized Gd2O3@SiO2 core-shell nanoparticles. These particles obtain high r(1) relaxivity of 5.26 s(-1)mM(-1) and are used as T-1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents. It is shown that the PLAL technique is promising for fabricating core-shell structure nanomaterial with potential medical applications.