Abstract
In this work, graphene nanoribbons and nanoplatelets were investigated as contrast agents for photoacoustic and thermoacoustic tomography (PAT and TAT). We show that oxidized single-and multi-walled graphene oxide nanoribbons (O-SWGNRs, O-MWGNRs) exhibit approximately 5-10 fold signal enhancement for PAT in comparison to blood at the wavelength of 755 nm, and approximately 10-28% signal enhancement for TAT in comparison to deionized (DI) water at 3 GHz. Oxidized graphite microparticles (O-GMPs) and exfoliated graphene oxide nanoplatelets (O-GNPs) show no significant signal enhancement for PAT, and approximately 12-29% signal enhancement for TAT. These results indicate that O-GNRs show promise as multi-modal PAT and TAT contrast agents, and that O-GNPs are suitable contrast agents for TAT.