Effects of Mesoporous Silica Coating and Post-Synthetic Treatment on the Transverse Relaxivity of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles.

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles have the capacity to load and deliver therapeutic cargo and incorporate imaging modalities, making them prominent candidates for theranostic devices. One of the most widespread imaging agents utilized in this and other theranostic platforms is nanoscale superparamagnetic iron oxide. Although several core–shell magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles presented in the literature have provided high T2 contrast in vitro and in vivo, there is ambiguity surrounding which parameters lead to enhanced contrast. Additionally, there is a need to understand the behavior of these imaging agents over time in biologically relevant environments. Herein, we present a systematic analysis of how the transverse relaxivity (r2) of magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles is influenced by nanoparticle diameter, iron oxide nanoparticle core synthesis, and use of a hydrothermal treatment. This work demonstrates that samples which did not undergo a hydrothermal treatment experienced a drop in r2 (...