Carbon Dots Doped with Dysprosium: A Bimodal Nanoprobe for MRI and Fluorescence Imaging

Abstract

In recent years, functional nanoprobes with multiple imaging modalities have become an emerging field of biomedical research. In this preliminary study, we utilized a facile hydrothermal method for the preparation of magneto-fluorescent bimodal carbon dots doped with dysprosium (Dy-CDs). The prepared Dy-CDs have shown a good colloidal stability in a water solution and strong blue–green fluorescence, with a maximum at 452 nm. In addition, the excellent transverse relaxivity of the prepared Dy-CDs (r2 = 7.42 ± 0.07 mM−1s−1) makes them also suitable for T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Thus, synthesized Dy-CDs could be potentially utilized for both MRI and fluorescence imaging of living cells.