Synthesis and Characterization of Iron–Sillenite for Application as an XRD/MRI Dual-Contrast Agent
Diana Vistorskaja,
Jen-Chang Yang,
Yu-Tzu Wu,
Liang-Yu Chang,
Po-Wen Lu,
Aleksej Zarkov,
Inga Grigoraviciute,
Aivaras Kareiva
Affiliations
Diana Vistorskaja
Institute of Chemistry, Vilnius University, Naugarduko St. 24, 03225 Vilnius, Lithuania
Jen-Chang Yang
Graduate Institute of Nanomedicine and Medical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, No. 301, Yuantong Road, Zhonghe District, New Taipei City 235603, Taiwan
Yu-Tzu Wu
Graduate Institute of Nanomedicine and Medical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, No. 301, Yuantong Road, Zhonghe District, New Taipei City 235603, Taiwan
Liang-Yu Chang
Graduate Institute of Nanomedicine and Medical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, No. 301, Yuantong Road, Zhonghe District, New Taipei City 235603, Taiwan
Po-Wen Lu
Graduate Institute of Biomedical Materials and Tissue Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11052, Taiwan
Aleksej Zarkov
Institute of Chemistry, Vilnius University, Naugarduko St. 24, 03225 Vilnius, Lithuania
Inga Grigoraviciute
Institute of Chemistry, Vilnius University, Naugarduko St. 24, 03225 Vilnius, Lithuania
Aivaras Kareiva
Institute of Chemistry, Vilnius University, Naugarduko St. 24, 03225 Vilnius, Lithuania
In the present work, iron–sillenite (Bi25FeO40) was synthesized using a simple solid-state reaction method and characterized. The effects of the synthesis conditions on the phase purity of Bi2O3/Fe3O4, morphological features, and possible application as an XRD/MRI dual-contrast agent were investigated. For the synthesis, the stoichiometric amounts of Bi2O3 and Fe3O4 were mixed and subsequently milled in a planetary ball mill for 10 min with a speed of 300 rpm. The milled mixture was calcined at various temperatures (550 °C, 700 °C, 750 °C, 800 °C, and 850 °C) for 1 h in air at a heating rate of 5 °C/min. For phase identification, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was performed and infrared (FTIR) spectra were recorded. The surface morphology of synthesized samples was studied by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). For the radiopacity measurements, iron–sillenite specimens were synthesized at different temperatures and mixed with different amounts of BaSO4 and Laponite solution. It was demonstrated that iron–sillenite Bi25FeO40 possessed sufficient radiopacity and could be a potential candidate to meet the requirements of its application as an XRD/MRI dual-contrast agent.
