Magnetic and relaxation properties of multifunctional polymer-based nanostructured bioferrofluids as MRI contrast agents.

A series of maghemite/polymer composite ferrofluids with variable magnetic core size, which show a good efficiency as MRI contrast agents, are presented. These ferrofluids are biocompatible and can be proposed as possible platforms for multifunctional biomedical applications, as they contain anchoring groups for biofunctionalization, can incorporate fluorescent dyes, and have shown low cellular toxicity. The magnetic properties of the ferrofluids have been determined by means of magnetization and ac susceptibility measurements as a function of temperature and frequency. The NMR dispersion profiles show that the low frequency behavior of the longitudinal relaxivity r(1) is well described by the heuristic model of (1)H nuclear relaxation induced by superparamagnetic nanoparticles proposed by Roch and co-workers. The contrast efficiency parameter, i.e., the nuclear transverse relaxivity r(2), for samples with d > 10 nm assumes values comparable with or better than the ones of commercial samples, the best results obtained in particles with the biggest magnetic core, d = 15 nm. The contrast efficiency results are confirmed by in vitro MRI experiments at ν = 8.5 MHz, thus allowing us to propose a set of optimal microstructural parameters for multifunctional ferrofluids to be used in MRI medical diagnosis.

Joining time-resolved thermometry and magnetic-induced heating in a single nanoparticle unveils intriguing thermal properties.

Whereas efficient and sensitive nanoheaters and nanothermometers are demanding tools in modern bio- and nanomedicine, joining both features in a single nanoparticle still remains a real challenge, despite the recent progress achieved, most of it within the last year. Here we demonstrate a successful realization of this challenge. The heating is magnetically induced, the temperature readout is optical, and the ratiometric thermometric probes are dual-emissive Eu(3+)/Tb(3+) lanthanide complexes. The low thermometer heat capacitance (0.021·K(-1)) and heater/thermometer resistance (1 K·W(-1)), the high temperature sensitivity (5.8%·K(-1) at 296 K) and uncertainty (0.5 K), the physiological working temperature range (295-315 K), the readout reproducibility (>99.5%), and the fast time response (0.250 s) make the heater/thermometer nanoplatform proposed here unique. Cells were incubated with the nanoparticles, and fluorescence microscopy permits the mapping of the intracellular local temperature using the pixel-by-pixel ratio of the Eu(3+)/Tb(3+) intensities. Time-resolved thermometry under an ac magnetic field evidences the failure of using macroscopic thermal parameters to describe heat diffusion at the nanoscale.

Magnetically responsive dry fluids.

Ferrofluids and dry magnetic particles are two separate classes of magnetic materials with specific niche applications, mainly due to their distinct viscosity and interparticle distances. For practical applications, the stability of these two properties is highly desirable but hard to achieve. Conceptually, a possible solution to this problem would be encapsulating the magnetic particles but keeping them free to rotate inside a capsule with constant interparticle distances and thus shielded from changes in the viscosity of the surrounding media. Here we present an example of such materials by the encapsulation of magnetic ferrofluids into highly hydrophobic silica, leading to the formation of dry ferrofluids, i.e., a material behaving macroscopically as a dry powder but locally as a ferrofluid where magnetic nanoparticles are free to rotate in the liquid.