Dipolar and anisotropy effect on dextran coated Cu doped ferrite for magnetic hyperthermia applications

Abstract

The dipolar interaction and magnetic anisotropy effect are the key parameters to tune the self-heating effect of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). In this paper, we investigate the impact of Cu2+ doped Fe3O4 and dextran coated nanoparticles (CuxFe3-xO4 with x = 0.15, 0.31, and 0.47) on thermal properties using specific absorption rate measurements (SAR). We look into the prospect of using dipolar and anisotropy effects to increase or decrease the heat released by magnetic nanoparticles, potentially boosting hyperthermia applications. Magnetic nanoparticles with an average particle size of 12–20 nm were observed via TEM. The influence of Cu2+ doping on the structural and magnetic properties of the samples was studied using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The effective anisotropy calculated for x = 0.15 and x = 0.47 were 5.5 and 4.4 j/m3 respectively. It was shown that increasing the copper doping reduced the effective anisotropy, lowering the SAR values. The SAR value obtained for x = 0.15 and dex-x = 0.15 were 787 and 591 W/g respectively. The uncoated CuxFe3-xO4 nanoparticles achieved hyperthermia temperatures (42–48 °C) much faster than the dextran-coated samples. Eventually temperature can be adjusted to the desired hyperthermia temperature range by altering the sample and Cu2+ concentration. The dextran coating has been shown to dramatically reduce SAR values while still assisting in magnetic hyperthermia temperature regulation. The study also demonstrated that the dipolar interaction influenced the Néel relaxation mechanism which was important in the heat generation mechanism of the MNPs