Synthesis and characterization of gadolinium oxide-doped mesoporous silica (Gd2O3-MS) nanoparticles

Gadolinium oxide-doped mesoporous silica nanoparticles (Gd2O3-MS) were synthesized using CTAB as surfactant template via sol-gel method. The generated Gd2O3-MS nanoparticles were characterized for phase using X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement, functional groups were determined by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), morphology and element composition were revealed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDAX) analysis, nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, and magnetic properties were conducted by vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM). The analysis results confirm that Gd2O3-MS nanoparticles were successfully synthesized in spherical form with diameter sized∼90 nm. Gd2O3-MS nanoparticles has the BET surface area value of 468.2 m2/g with total pore volume of 0.5867 ml/g and three kind of pore size distributions, namely, 1.8 nm, 2.9 nm and 3.3 nm. These Gd2O3-MS nanoparticles possess magnetic and mesoporous properties that may act as contrast agent and can accept organic molecules (for drug delivery) with further research.