Research on design, fabrication, and properties of Fe2O3@SiO2/CDs/PEG@nSiO2 nanocomposites

Multimodal imaging, which can combine information from different imaging modalities, offers huge advantages. Among various multifunctional images, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combination with fluorescence imaging has attracted considerable attention for their potential biomedical applications. In this study, we present a facile method for fabrication of core-shell-structured nanocomposite particles. First, Fe2O3 nanoparticles were synthesized as the magnetic core. Then, the Fe2O3 nanoparticles were covered with a silica shell. Carbon dots and PEG could be absorbed into the mesoporous silica layer and then sealed by a dense silica layer (denoted as Fe2O3@SiO2/CDs/PEG@nSiO2). The results show that the as-prepared nanocomposite has a uniform size, strong magnetization and good fluorescence properties, which has application as a bioimaging probe.