Aqueous route for the synthesis of magnetite nanoparticles under atmospheric air: functionalization of surface with fluorescence marker

Abstract

A simple chemical precipitation approach has been established for the synthesis of magnetite nanoparticles under atmospheric air conditions. The process involves precipitation of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles from an aqueous solution containing ferric chloride, hydrochloric acid, sodium sulphite, ammonium ferrous sulphate and ammonia. Further, these nanoparticles were surface conjugated with aminated silica for the attachment of rhodamine 610. The crystallinity was assessed by X-ray diffraction and surface conjugation of aminated silica confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Electron probe micro-analyzer. Fluorescent absorption measurements revealed a red shift with surface conjugated rhodamine 610 magnetite nanoparticles in comparison to free rhodamine 610 mixed with aminated magnetic nanoparticles. The magnetic measurements of prepared samples showed superparamagnetism, which led us to investigate its usage in internalization studies for biomedical applications. The internalization study of the conjugated magnetite nanoparticles in cell by fluorescent microscopy at different time intervals recommends its usage as an efficient drug delivery system.