Seminarium Oddziału Fizykochemii Biomedycznej

Microwave-assisted synthesis of rare-earth-based nanoparticles with tuned composition and architecture for imaging and sensing

Dr Eva Hemmer

University of Ottawa, Canada

Seminarium odbędzie się w trybie zdalnym przy użyciu programu Microsoft Teams. Osoby w domenie intibs.pl mogą dołączyć do zespołu Seminarium OFB przy użyciu kodu: 7aoxdkd. Pozostałe osoby proszone są o kontakt pod adresem  

The seminar will be held remotely using Microsoft Teams. People in the intibs.pl domain can join the Seminarium OFB team using the code: 7aoxdkd. Other persons are asked to contact us at  

Abstract:

The remarkable optomagnetic properties of the rare-earths (RE) make RE-based materials ideal for biomedical applications, including diagnostic (e.g., imaging, nanothermometry) and therapeutic (e.g., drug delivery, photodynamic therapy) approaches.

Yet, challenges remain; low emission intensity and efficiency of small nanoparticles (NPs), and reliable, fast synthesis routes. As material chemists, we tackle these challenges with new designs of RE-NPs by chemically controlled synthesis. Sodium rare-earth fluorides (NaREF4) are our favorite materials, and we developed a fast and reliable microwave-assisted synthesis approach allowing crystalline phase and size control in the sub 15 nm realm. Such control is crucial for the understanding of fundamental structure-property relationships and to optimize their optical and magnetic properties, when aiming for the design of next-generation optical probes or magnetic imaging contrast agents. For instance, NaGdF4 NPs are gaining interest as alternative MRI contrast agent, while co-doping with RE3+ ions renders them excellent candidates for photoluminescent optical probes. The hexagonal crystalline phase of NaGdF4 is known as the more efficient host material for emission, yet interestingly, it was found that its cubic counterpart shows superior performance as MRI contrast agent.

Having a fast and reliable synthesis route towards NaREF4 NPs on hand, we now explore various nanoparticle architectures and compositions with the goal to optimize their optomagnetic properties, ultimately resulting in the design of biocompatible multimodal imaging and sensing probes.