Synthesis and characterization of rare-earth orthoferrite LnFeO3 nanoparticles bioimaging

Sonia Pinho (1, 2) , João Amaral (3) , Alain Wattiaux (1) , Mathieu Duttine (1) , Marie-Hélène Delville (1) , Carlos F. G. C. Geraldes (4)

1 ICMCB - Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux
2 CICECO - Department of Chemistry
3 CICECO - Departments of Physics
4 Department of Life Sciences and Coimbra Chemistry Center, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.

A combination of sol–gel synthesis and thermal decomposition was developed for preparing nanosized, perovskite‐type LnFeO3 (Ln = Eu, Gd, Tb) powders. Perovskite‐type powders with crystalline particles of 100 nm average size, as determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), could be obtained after a thermal treatment at 800 °C. The perovskite nanoparticles (NPs) were further characterized by X‐ray powder diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy. These were in agreement with the pure perovskite LnFeO3 structure with the expected Zeeman sextet corresponding to a magnetically ordered phase. Magnetization measurements [M(H)] at 5 K and 300 K showed a behavior that is dominated by antiferromagnetic interactions and weak ferromagnetism in EuFeO3, while for Ln = Gd, Tb, they were dominated by the low ordering temperature Ln magnetic sublattice. The colloidal aqueous NPs suspensions exhibited no significant leaching of free Ln3+ ions. Their relaxivities define them as potential T2 MRI contrast agents for further biomedical applications. The NPs showed fast uptake and no cytotoxicity at concentrations below 62.5 µg/mL with respect to Hela cells.

Domaines: Matériaux

Sonia Pinho, João Amaral, Alain Wattiaux, Mathieu Duttine, Marie-Hélène Delville, et al.. Synthesis and characterization of rare-earth orthoferrite LnFeO3 nanoparticles bioimaging. European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2018, 2018 (31), pp.3570-3578. ⟨10.1002/ejic.201800468⟩. ⟨hal-01864259⟩