Engineering the surface of Gd2O3 nanoplates for improved T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract The oleic acid (OA) and oleylamine (OM)-capped Gd2O3 nanoplates were encapsulated into N-Dodecyl-PEI-PEG polymer to synthesize the hydrophilic clusters for T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The obtained Gd2O3@N-Dodecyl-PEI-PEG clusters showed a hydrodynamic size of 95 nm and a r1 value of 14.13 mM−1 s−1, which was approximately 4 times greater than that of the commercial product gadolinium-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA) (r1 = 3.40 mM−1 s−1). The in vitro toxicity demonstrated that the obtained clusters were biocompatible. The MRI experiments on SCC-7 cells/xenograft tumors indicated that the clusters had obvious T1-enhancement ability. These clusters have great potential application as T1-weighted MRI contrast agents.