Issue 38, 2011

Novel synthesis of superparamagnetic magnetite nanoclusters for biomedical applications

Abstract

In this work, we report a novel method of single step facile synthesis of magnetite nanoclusters via thermal decomposition of iron(III) acetylacetonate in a liquid mixture of tri(ethylene glycol) (TREG) and triethanolamine (TREA). The optimized ratio of TREG : TREA has been found to be 1 : 4 (v/v) for the formation of well dispersed MNC-14 magnetite nanoclusters with high Ms values (75 emu g−1) as compared to MNC-10 magnetite nanoparticles (63 emu g−1). The MNC-14 nanoclusters were found to be nontoxic to MCF-7 cells up to an iron concentration of 10 mg ml−1. The MNC-14 nanoclusters yielded high specific absorption rate (SAR) values (∼500 Watt g−1 at 89 kA m−1 AC magnetic field and 240 kHz frequency) and thus qualified for their possible use in magnetic hyperthermia treatment, while MNC-10 nanoparticles possess a much lower SAR value of 135 Watt g−1. In vitro magnetic hyperthermia experiments (using the MNC-14 nanoclusters with the iron concentration of 0.5 mg ml−1) showed about 74% loss in viability of MCF-7 breast cancer cells indicating that they are a very suitable candidate for magnetic hyperthermia treatment of cancer. The r2 and r2* relaxivity values of MNC-14 nanoclusters (294.99 and 450.05 s−1 mM−1) as measured by a 9.4 T MRI scanner were higher than those for the MNC-10 nanoparticles (205.6 and 309.2 s−1 mM−1). The MNC-14 nanoclusters also showed very promising in vivo tumor imaging. Thus, the newly synthesized novel MNC-14 nanoclusters possess great potential in clinical MRI and magnetic hyperthermia applications and may be used simultaneously for cancer diagnosis and therapy.

Graphical abstract: Novel synthesis of superparamagnetic magnetite nanoclusters for biomedical applications

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 May 2011
Accepted
18 Jul 2011
First published
15 Aug 2011

J. Mater. Chem., 2011,21, 14717-14724

Novel synthesis of superparamagnetic magnetite nanoclusters for biomedical applications

D. Maity, P. Chandrasekharan, P. Pradhan, K. Chuang, J. Xue, S. Feng and J. Ding, J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 14717 DOI: 10.1039/C1JM11982F

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