@inproceedings{01J4PM5JF3A8VZ8DS155AW75Y6,
  abstract     = {{Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. Vascular corrosion casting provides an in-depth understanding of cardiovascular morphology by injecting a polymer resin and subsequently removing the surrounding soft tissue via chemical maceration.1 In-situ micro-computed tomography (CT) scans can provide detailed information on the vascular architecture without having to corrode the tissue, but a lack of CT contrast makes the distinction between the polymer cast and the animals’ soft tissue impossible. To improve this, we introduce hafnium oxide nanocrystals (HfO2 NCs) as contrast agents to the polymer resin. Here we communicate our insights on the HfO2 NC synthesis, their surface chemistry and their application as CT contrast agent. We synthesize 5 – 10 nm HfO2 NCs starting from HfCl4.2THF in benzyl alcohol. Initially identified as a purely nonaqueous sol-gel route,2 we find the in-situ water formation to be responsible for gelation of the reaction mixture prior to particle crystallization. Through mechanistic investigation using in-situ PDF analysis, NMR, EXAFS and rheology measurements we study this rapid precursor-to-gel conversion and subsequent nucleation and growth. To obtain a stable and homogeneous dispersion of the NCs in the casting resin, we optimized the particle’s surface chemistry. The ideal ligand is found to be a combination of a strong binding group (phosphonate), while matching the resin’s polarity via its organic tail (ethylene glycol oligomers), creating highly stable nanocomposites. Finally, we perform ex-vivo injections of both zebrafish and mouse models with the NC-doped resin and obtain high-quality cast visualization via automatic segmentation.}},
  author       = {{Goossens, Eline and Deblock, Loren and Caboor, Lisa and Aalling-Frederiksen, Olivia and Van den Eynden, Dietger and Tack, Pieter and Josipovic, Iván and Reyes Isaacura, Pablo and Maksimova, Elizaveta and Van Impe, Matthias and Bonnin, Anne and Cornillie, Pieter and De Spiegelaere, Ward and M.O. Jensen, Kirsten and Boone, Matthieu and Van Driessche, Isabel and De Roo, Jonathan and Sips, Patrick and De Buysser, Klaartje}},
  booktitle    = {{Nanoscience with nanocrystals, Abstracts}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  location     = {{Klosterneuburg}},
  pages        = {{1}},
  title        = {{Hafnium oxide nanocrystals for contrast enhanced vascular casting : from mechanistic insight to application}},
  url          = {{http://nanax.org/}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}