Effective electrosynthesis and in situ surface coating of Fe3O4 nanoparticles with polyvinyl alcohol for biomedical applications

Abstract

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) were successfully synthesized in an aqueous solution by a novel electrochemical method. A new in situ electrochemical method was also developed for the surface functionalization of the iron oxide nanoparticles. In this method, Fe3O4 nanoparticles were prepared in an aqueous medium under optimum electrochemical conditions and superparamagnetic monodispersed nanoparticles were achieved. Structural characterization of electrodeposited nanoparticles was performed by field emission scanning and transmission electron microscopes. The observations indicated the nanoparticles to be spherical with a high level of homogeneity and narrow size distribution. To achieve better magnetic properties, the surface of Fe3O4 nanoparticles was coated with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) through a one-step deposition process. The PVA coat on the surface of nanoparticles was confirmed by FT-IR and DSC-TGA analyses. Vibrating sample magnetometery confirmed the excellent superparamagnetic behavior and high saturation magnetization of the synthesized SPIONs at room temperature. Such magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles with suitable size have proved their tremendous potentials for use in various biomedical applications. This electrochemical synthesis method allows for the facile preparation of superparamagnetic nanoparticles with high drug loading/polymer coating capacities, which have the potential to be used in many different biological and medical applications.