Ultrasmall iron oxide nanoparticles: Synthesis, physicochemical, and magnetic properties

A new synthetic method leading to the formation of polycaprolactone (PCL)/iron oxide nanoparticles using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) is described. The unique feature of this method is that the conventional polymerization step can be avoided. A stable colloidal dispersion of the PCL-coated iron oxide nanoparticles (PCLNP) is thus formed in the presence of PVP as a stabilizer. The PCLNP has a mean diameter of 20-50 nm as measured by TEM. Magnetic measurement by SQUID shows that the PCLNP has a strong superparamagnetism to be used as a liver MR T2 agent. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.