Structural and morphological investigation of magnetic nanoparticles based on iron oxides for biomedical applications

The present work reports the synthesis, characterization and properties of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for biomedical applications, correlating the nanoscale tunabilities in terms of size, structure, and magnetism. Magnetic nanoparticles in different conditions were prepared through thermal decomposition of Fe(acac)3 in the presence of 1,2 hexadecanodiol (reducing agent) and oleic acid and oleylamine (ligands) in a hot organic solvent. The 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) was exchanged onto the nanocrystal surface making the particles stable in water. Nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Preliminary tests of incorporation of these nanoparticles in cells and their magnetic resonance image (MRI) were also carried out. The magnetization characterizations were made by isothermal magnetic measurements.