Colloidal assemblies of oriented maghemite nanocrystals and their NMR relaxometric properties

An elevated- temperature polyol-based colloidal-chemistry approach allows for the development of size-tunable (50 and 86 nm) assemblies of maghemite iso-oriented nanocrystals, with enhanced magnetization. H-1-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometric experiments show that the ferrimagnetic cluster-like colloidal entities exhibit a remarkable enhancement (4-5 times) in transverse relaxivity when compared to that of the superparamagnetic contrast agent Endorem (R), over an extended frequency range (1-60 MHz). The marked increase in the transverse relaxivity r(2) at a clinical magnetic field strength (similar to 1.41 T), which is 405.1 and 508.3 mM(-1) s(-1) for small and large assemblies, respectively, makes it possible to relate the observed response to the raised intra-aggregate magnetic material volume fraction. Furthermore, cell tests with a murine fibroblast culture medium confirmed cell viability in the presence of the clusters. We discuss the NMR dispersion profiles on the basis of relaxivity models to highlight the magneto-structural characteristics of the materials for improved T-2-weighted magnetic resonance images.