Prof. Josep Nogués gave a lecture titled Anisometric Fe?O? nanoparticles as versatile theranostic agents.

Prof. Josep Nogués gave a lecture titled Anisometric Fe?O? nanoparticles as versatile  theranostic agents.
 
◆Date and time: September 12, 11:45~12:30

◆Speaker: 
Prof. Josep Nogués（Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST, ICREA, Barcelona, Spain）

◆ABSTRACT:
Nanoparticles have attracted an enormous interest during the last decades due to their appealing properties which have led to countless applications in very widespread fields. Interestingly, the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles can be efficiently tuned by designing not only their size but also their shape. For biomedical applications, magnetic iron oxides, either magnetite ( Fe?O? ) or maghemite (γ-Fe?O? ), are becoming the preferred material due to their excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability and relatively high magnetic moment. However, most of the research performed in maghemite/magnetite nanoparticles has been carried out on isotropic spherical particles. Here we present a rationally designed synthesis to obtain high quality anisometric  Fe?O? nanoparticles, nanocubes and nanorods, over a wide range of sizes. Below certain sizes both nanocubes and the nanorods show a great colloidal stability, even after transferring them to water. Moreover, they exhibit an excellent magnetichyperthermia and NMR relaxivity performance (better than their spherical counterparts), making them excellent candidates for potential applications in nanotheranostics. 
In addition, the Fe?O? nanoparticles are outstanding heat mediators for photothermia in the near infrared biological windows (680-1350 nm), with heating efficiencies similar to, or better than, the best photothermal agents.