LAUSR

Developing a feasible way to prepare highly dispersed heterometallic nanoparticles incorporated in porous carbon composites is of significant importance for multifunctional materials. In this work, heterometallic γ-Fe2O3 and GdPO4 nanoparticles that are incorporated in ordered mesoporous carbon composites are facilely prepared by a one-pot in situ method using a Wells–Dawson-like cluster of [Fe6Gd6(μ3-O)2(CO3)(O3PPh)6(O2C t Bu)18] ({Fe6Gd6P6} for short) as the precursor. It is verified that the γ-Fe2O3 and GdPO4 nanoparticles are highly dispersed and embedded into the carbon matrix with a particle size smaller than 5 nm, even when the carbon matrix is changed from 2D hexagonal P6mm to 3D body-centered cubic Im-3m symmetry. Additionally, a formation mechanism is proposed. Furthermore, dual-mode magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and drug carrier properties are evaluated by in vitro experiments, which show a satisfactory T 1- and T 2-weighted MR imaging effect with r 1 and r 2 relaxivity values of 2.7 and 183.7 mM−1 s−1, respectively, and doxorubicin hydrochloride carrier amount of 102 mg g−1, identifying a combined function for potential diagnostic and therapy.