A Gd(III)-nanodiamond conjugate [Gd(III)-ND] was prepared and characterized, enabling detection of nanodiamonds by
MR imaging. The Gd(III)-ND particles significantly reduced the T1 of water protons with a per-Gd(III) relaxivity of 58.82 ( 1.18 mM-1
s-1 at 1.5 T (60 MHz). This represents a 10-fold increase compared to the monomer Gd(III) complex (r1 ) 5.42 ( 0.20 mM-1 s-1) and
is among the highest per-Gd(III) relaxivities reported.
KEYWORDS Nanodiamonds, nanomedicine, MR contrast agents, gadolinium