| CPC C01G 49/08 (2013.01) [C01G 49/0072 (2013.01); H01F 1/36 (2013.01); B82Y 25/00 (2013.01); B82Y 40/00 (2013.01); C01P 2002/72 (2013.01); C01P 2002/82 (2013.01); C01P 2002/88 (2013.01); C01P 2004/04 (2013.01); C01P 2004/64 (2013.01); C01P 2006/42 (2013.01)] | 20 Claims |

|
1. A method for synthesizing water-soluble metal oxide nanoparticles, the method comprising:
a. heating a first reaction mixture at a first predetermined temperature for a first predetermined time duration with continuous stirring to obtain a second reaction mixture that comprises water-soluble metal oxide nanoparticles of a first size, the first size having a standard deviation of about 10%, and the first reaction mixture comprising a reactant and a polyol, wherein the polyol is diethylene glycol (DEG);
b. adding a first predetermined amount of the reactant to the second reaction mixture to obtain a third reaction mixture; and
c. heating the third reaction mixture at a second predetermined temperature for a second predetermined time duration with continuous stirring to obtain a fourth reaction mixture comprising water-soluble metal oxide nanoparticles of a second size, wherein the second predetermined temperature is greater than the first predetermined temperature,
wherein the water-soluble metal oxide nanoparticles having a size of around 9 nm exhibit a transversal relaxivity of around 425 mMol-1.s-1 and a longitudinal relaxivity of around 32 mMol-1.s-1.
|