Carbon Dots Doped with Dysprosium: A Bimodal Nanoprobe for MRI and Fluorescence Imaging

In recent years, functional nanoprobes with multiple imaging modalities have become an emerging field of biomedical research. In this preliminary study, we utilized a facile hydrothermal method for the preparation of magneto-fluorescent bimodal carbon dots doped with dysprosium (Dy-CDs). The prepared Dy-CDs have shown a good colloidal stability in a water solution and strong blue–green fluorescence, with a maximum at 452 nm. In addition, the excellent transverse relaxivity of the prepared Dy-CDs (r(2) = 7.42 ± 0.07 mM(−1)s(−1)) makes them also suitable for T(2)-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Thus, synthesized Dy-CDs could be potentially utilized for both MRI and fluorescence imaging of living cells.