Tuneable carbon dots coated iron oxide nanoparticles as superior T1 contrast agent for multimodal imaging: Original scientific arfticle

Anbazhagan Thirumalai; Palani  Sharmiladevi; Koyeli  Girigoswami; Alex Daniel  Prabhu; Agnishwar Girigoswami

doi:10.5599/admet.2790

Authors

Anbazhagan Thirumalai Medical Bionanotechnology, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences (FAHS), Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education (CARE), Kelambakkam, Chennai, TN-603103, India. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2659-5191
Palani Sharmiladevi Medical Bionanotechnology, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences (FAHS), Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education (CARE), Kelambakkam, Chennai, TN-603103, India. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7283-5400
Koyeli Girigoswami Medical Bionanotechnology Lab, Depatment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Centre for Global Health Research, Saveetha Medical College, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Thandalam, Chennai, 602105, India https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1554-5241
Alex Daniel Prabhu Department of Radiology, Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education (CARE), Kelambakkam, Chennai, TN-603103, India. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0474-4352
Agnishwar Girigoswami Medical Bionanotechnology, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences (FAHS), Chettinad Hospital & Research Institute (CHRI), Chettinad Academy of Research and Education (CARE), Kelambakkam, Chennai, TN-603103, India https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0475-2544

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5599/admet.2790

Keywords:

Magnetic nanoparticles, super paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, hydrothermal method, T1 weighted magnetic resonance imaging, fluorescence imaging, diagnosis

Abstract

Background and purpose: Multifunctional hybrid nanoparticles garner heightened interest for prospective biomedical applications, including medical imaging and medication administration, owing to their synergistic benefits of constituent components. Therefore, we demonstrated an optimized protocol for synthesizing magnetofluorescent nanohybrids comprising fluorescent carbon dots with magnetic nanoparticles. Experimental approach: Carbon dot-coated iron oxide nanoparticles (CDs@Fe₂O₃) were synthesized with varying citric acid concentrations by a one-pot hydrothermal synthesis method for the development of a low-cost and biocompatible contrast agent (CA) for enhanced multimodal imaging (fluorescent and T₁ and T₂ weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)) to replace the conventional CAs. Key results: The physicochemical characterization of the synthesized CDs@Fe₂O₃ revealed that 3 g of citric acid used for the synthesis of nanoparticles, keeping Fe(II) and Fe(III) ratio 1:2 provides higher stability of -78 mV zeta potential, saturation magnetization of 24 emu/g, with a hydrodynamic diameter of 68 nm. Carbon coating affects surface spins on Fe₂O₃, resulting in fewer surface-based relaxation centres, making T₁ relaxation relatively more prominent. Furthermore, the surface-engineered iron oxide NPs are efficient in producing both T₁ and T₂ weighted MRI as well as fluorescence-based imaging. The molar relaxivity and molar radiant efficiency derived from phantom studies demonstrate their effectiveness in multimodal medical imaging. The cytotoxicity assay, haemolysis assay, haematology, and histopathology studies show that the optimized CDs@Fe₂O₃ are biocompatible, haemocompatible, and negligibly toxic. Conclusion: We can conclude the significant potency of CDs@Fe₂O₃ for multimodal diagnosis.

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