Physical characterization and heating efficacy of chitosan-coated cobalt ferrite nanoparticles for hyperthermia application

Abstract

Cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles with three distinct grain sizes of 13, 17, and 21 nm were successfully obtained at relatively low temperature via a facile chemical wet method, namely, hydrothermal method. X-ray diffraction analyses, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy confirmed the pure cubic spinel characteristic of the samples. UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy was performed to analyze the optical band gap energy of the samples; the direct band gap increased with the increase in grain size. The variation in coercivity with particle size was considered to construct the domain state of the nanoparticles. The magnetic heating efficiency was investigated on the basis of a magnetic fluid with various concentrations of well-dispersed chitosan-coated 13 nm CoFe2O4 nanoparticles. In vitro cytotoxicity experiments revealed the non-cytotoxic nature of chitosan-coated CoFe2O4 nanoparticles. Moreover, the high value of specific loss power suggested that these nanoparticles may be used as magnetic mediators for magnetic hyperthermia applications.