Cleaved iron oxide nanoparticles as T2 contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging.

Iron oxide nanoparticles as contrast agents are reported to effectively improve magnetic resonance imaging of tissues and cells. In this work, cleaved iron oxide nanoparticles (CIONPs) were generated from hydrophobic FeO nanoparticles (HIONPs) by coating their surfaces with PEG-phospholipids, oxidizing them under water, and slowly removing the residual FeO phase in phthalate buffer. The synthesized CIONPs showed good r2 values of up to 258 s(-1)  mM(-1). Thus, the CIONPs can be employed as vectors for drug delivery due to their unique structure with an empty inner space, which enables their use in a wide range of applications.