Abstract
The exceptional magnetic properties of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) make them promising materials for biomedical applications like hyperthermia, drug targeting and imaging. Easy preparation of SPIONs with the controllable, well-defined properties is a key factor of their practical application. In this work, we report a simple synthesis of Ho-doped SPIONs by the co-precipitation route, with controlled size, shape and magnetic properties. To investigate the influence of the ions ratio on the nanoparticles’ properties, multiple techniques were used. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) confirmed the crystallographic structure, indicating formation of an Fe3O4 core doped with holmium. In addition, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the correlation of the crystallites’ shape and size with the experimental conditions, pointing to critical holmium content around 5% for the preparation of uniformly shaped grains, while larger holmium content leads to uniaxial growth with a prism shape. Studies of the magnetic behaviour of nanoparticles show that magnetization varies with changes in the initial Ho3+ ions percentage during precipitation, while below 5% of Ho in doped Fe3O4 is relatively stable and sufficient for biomedicine applications. The characterization of prepared nanoparticles suggests that co-precipitation is a simple and efficient technique for the synthesis of superparamagnetic, Ho-doped SPIONs for hyperthermia application.
Highlights
In recent years, magnetic nanoparticles like magnetite (Fe3O4) have allowed for significant progress in the field of drug delivery and cancer treatment [1,2]
SPIONs were synthesized through the co-precipitation method, which is a widely used technique for the preparation of SPIONs from aqueous solutions [40,41]
Smaller SPIONs with a high surface area to volume ratio yield smaller mass magnetization than larger SPIONs due to the increased contribution of the surface anisotropic layer decreasing the overall magnetization. This is usually explained in terms of a core-shell model, where the magnetically dead layer, strains and distortions at the surface are claimed to be responsible for the particle size effects [42]
Summary
Magnetic nanoparticles like magnetite (Fe3O4) have allowed for significant progress in the field of drug delivery and cancer treatment [1,2]. Magnetite nanoparticles ranging from a few nanometers up to 100 nm are very attractive in a wide array of modern scientific fields, such as nanotechnology [4,5,6] biotechnology [7], MRI contrast agents [8], magnetic separation and immobilization [9] etc. These nanomaterials can be effective for medical applications including bioimaging [10] and biosensing in diagnostics (theranostics) [11,12], controlled drug delivery and cancer therapeutics [13,14,15,16]. Several excellent reviews have been published on the synthesis, functionalization and application of magnetic nanoparticles [17,18]
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