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Polymer-Encapsulated Lanthanide-Containing Clusters as Platforms for Fabricating Magnetic Soft Materials
Qun He1, Huanting Huang1, Xiu-Ying Zheng2
1Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metals Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province, State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, and College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering , Lanzhou University , Lanzhou , Gansu 730000 , China.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|May 10, 2018
Summary
Researchers developed a universal method for creating lanthanide cluster-based magnetic soft materials at room temperature. These materials, encapsulated in polymers, show promise for in vivo magnetic resonance imaging applications.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Chemistry
Background:
- High-nuclearity lanthanide clusters offer unique magnetic properties and nanoarchitectures.
- Challenges in stability and processability have hindered the development of functional soft materials from these clusters.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish a universal strategy for fabricating lanthanide cluster-based magnetic soft materials under ambient conditions.
- To investigate the encapsulation of lanthanide clusters within polymeric shells for improved stability and processability.
Main Methods:
- Encapsulation of a prototypical lanthanide cluster [Gd52Ni56(IDA)48(OH)154(H2O)38]18+ within sulfonate end-functionalized poly(ethylene glycol) monoalkyl ether shells.
- Control over shell thickness by adjusting polymer chain length via electrostatic interactions.
- Self-assembly of encapsulated hybrids into vesicles in solution.
Main Results:
- Successful fabrication of magnetic soft materials from lanthanide clusters under ambient conditions.
- Controllable reduction of antiferromagnetic interactions by tuning polymer shell thickness.
- Formation of self-assembled vesicles from the encapsulated hybrids.
Conclusions:
- The developed strategy provides a universal approach to overcome stability and processability issues of lanthanide clusters.
- The resulting magnetic soft materials can self-assemble into functional vesicles.
- These materials demonstrate potential as effective agents for in vivo magnetic resonance imaging.
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