Multifunctional Inorganic Nanoparticles for Biomedical Diagnostics

My Ph.D. research focuses on the study and development of multifunctional inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) as contrast agent in biomedical diagnostics. The NPs under investigation are Calcium and Strontium Fluoride NPs (CaF2, SrF2) doped with different lanthanide ions (Ln3+), as well as quantum dots (QDs) as CuInS2@ZnS, also combined with Magnetite NPs, and ZnO. These NPs are named as multifunctional since are designed as bimodal probes to combine more than one imaging modalities, such as optical and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and to be informative of the variations of the temperature in the system in which they are internalized. Hence, NPs with both optical and MRI abilities can match the advantages of each technique, towards a more efficient bimodal nanosystem. The luminescent properties of lanthanide-doped NPs as well as of QDs are analyzed with a special emphasis on temperature-sensitive emissions and their applications in nanothermometry encompassing (non)ratiometric approaches related to different types of intensities variations. The topics of interest using these NPs have been mainly the following: 1. Their conjugation with folic acid for cancer targeting therapy 2. NPs as nanothermometer 3. Human coagulation system response after NPs-proteins interactions 4. Bioimaging