Green synthesis of nickel ferrite nanoparticles using Terminalia catappa: Structural, magnetic and anticancer studies against MCF-7 cell lines

Abstract

Globally, cancer is among the leading causes of mortality, in 2020 it leads to nearly 10 million deaths. Breast cancer stands at first with around 2.26 million cases as per the reports of the World Health Organization. A cost-effective facile green synthesis method was used to prepare nickel ferrite (NiFe2O4) nanoparticles using different volumes (X = 10 and 20 ml) namely samples NF1 and NF2 respectively from the leaf extract of Terminalia catappa. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that NF1 and NF2 samples showed inverse spinel structure with average crystallite sizes of 11.78 and 8.01 nm. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) spectral analysis of NF1 confirmed the formation of spinel ferrite. The agglomerated and spherical structure of nanoparticles is confirmed by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) analysis. Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDAX) displays the presence of elemental composition of synthesized samples. The nanoparticles mediated by Terminalia catappa have spherical shapes with particle sizes of 21.41 nm and 19.30 nm. The Selected Area Electron Diffraction (SAED) pattern of NiFe2O4 nanoparticles confirmed the existence of polycrystalline nature. Magnetic studies showed a decrease in saturation magnetization considerably from 0.31 to 0.29 emu/g with an increase in the volume of leaf extract. Using different volumes of leaf extract is the critical parameter for the control of the size and shape of as-synthesized nanoparticles. The anticancer activity of breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines revealed that cytotoxicity effects of sample NF1 with the lowest cell viability 24.92% at 500 µg/ml showed potent effectivity compared to NF2.