Homogeneous Gd₂O₃:Eu³⁺ Spheres, Square Prisms and Hexagonal Rods as a Contrast Agent for Magnetic Resonance/Fluorescence Dual-Modal Imaging

The lanthanide oxides have been widely used as luminescent devices, bio imaging and magnetic resonance imaging as contrast agent 1,2. Among the lanthanide oxides, Gd₂O₃:Eu³⁺ material has good ability such as thermal stability, chemical stability and low phonon-energy to minimize non-radiative loss, which was affected by particle size and morphology. Therefore, architecture-controlled nanomaterials (zero, one, two and three) such as sphere, rods, prism and tubes were attracting attention. It can be applied to the potential wide ranging applications for MR imaging, drug delivery, fluorescent imaging, light emitting devices and optoelectronic devices. In this experiment, we report on the cubic structure Gd₂O₃:Eu³⁺ samples with different pH values synthesized by the solvothermal method. To confirm the structure and morphology, Gd₂O₃:Eu³⁺ samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The luminescence properties were investigated by Photon Technology International fluorimeter equipped with a Xe-arc lamp with a power of 60 W. The MR images was obtained by using a 3.0 T clinical MRI scanner (Philips, Achieva, Netherlands).