Introduction of Manganese Oxide into Carbon Nanotubes for the Potential Applications as a Contrast Medium

Manganese compound with evident toxicity is widely employed as the contrast medium for clinicalexaminations such as magnetic resonance imaging(MRI).In the present work,a feasible way with the applica-tion of vacuum impregnation and rotary evaporation was proposed to introduce manganese chloride hydrate intothe inner cavities of template - synthesized carbon nanotubes(CNTs),and then a process of alkali treatmentwas used to liberate the loaded CNTs from the template.It is notable that the alkali attack in the presence ofresidual oxygen also resulted in a series of changes in chemical compositions of guest substances,and the ulti-mate compound of manganese was found to be manganese oxide(Mn3O4) by X-ray diffraction and transmissionelectron microscopy.Determinations of energy dispersive spectrum under scanning electron microscopy showeda high-content filling(more than 50 wt%) of Mn3O4 in the loaded CNTs.This work developed a feasible andconvenient way for the encapsulation of guest substances to reduce bio-toxic effects.