Gold-decorated magnetic nanoparticles design for hyperthermia applications and as a potential platform for their surface-functionalization

The integration of noble metal and magnetic nanoparticles with controlled structures that can couple various specific effects to the different nanocomposite in multifunctional nanosystems have been found interesting in the field of medicine. In this work, we show synthesis route to prepare small Au nanoparticles of sizes <d> = 3.9 ± 0.2 nm attached to Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticle cores (<d> = 49.2 ± 3.5 nm) in aqueous medium for potential application as a nano-heater. Remarkably, the resulted Au decorated PEI-Fe 3 O 4 (Au@PEI-Fe 3 O 4 ) nanoparticles are able to retain bulk magnetic moment M S = 82–84 Am 2 /kg Fe3O4 , with the Verwey transition observed at T V = 98 K. In addition, the in vitro cytotoxicity analysis of the nanosystem microglial BV2 cells showed high viability (>97.5%) to concentrate up to 100 µg/mL in comparison to the control samples. In vitro heating experiments on microglial BV2 cells under an ac magnetic field (H 0 = 23.87 kA/m; f = 571 kHz) yielded specific power absorption (SPA) values of SPA = 43 ± 3 and 49 ± 1 µW/cell for PEI-Fe 3 O 4 and Au@PEI-Fe 3 O 4 NPs, respectively. These similar intracellular SPA values imply that functionalization of the magnetic particles with Au did not change the heating efficiency, providing at the same time a more flexible platform for multifunctional functionalization

Structural and magnetic properties of core-shell Au/Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles

We present a systematic study of core-shell Au/Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles produced by thermal decomposition under mild conditions. The morphology and crystal structure of the nanoparticles revealed the presence of Au core of d = (6.9 ± 1.0) nm surrounded by Fe 3 O 4 shell with a thickness of ~3.5 nm, epitaxially grown onto the Au core surface. The Au/Fe 3 O 4 core-shell structure was demonstrated by high angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy analysis. The magnetite shell grown on top of the Au nanoparticle displayed a thermal blocking state at temperatures below T B = 59 K and a relaxed state well above T B. Remarkably, an exchange bias effect was observed when cooling down the samples below room temperature under an external magnetic field. Moreover, the exchange bias field (H EX) started to appear at T~40 K and its value increased by decreasing the temperature. This effect has been assigned to the interaction of spins located in the magnetically disordered regions (in the inner and outer surface of the Fe 3 O 4 shell) and spins located in the ordered region of the Fe 3 O 4 shell

Structure and magnetism of Fe–Co alloy nanoparticles

We report the hydrothermal synthesis and structure of FexCo1−x alloy nanoparticles with considerable stability against oxidation under ambient atmosphere. Powder X-ray diffractometry (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and magnetization measurements are applied to characterize the composition, morphology, crystal structure, atomic order and magnetic properties of the nanoparticles. As-prepared samples are composed mainly of the bcc FexCo1−x alloy phase. TEM images of heat-treated samples confirm the nanoparticle nature of the original alloys. A consistent analysis of the experimental results leads to x ≈ 53% and x ≈ 62% Fe atomic ratio respectively in two analogous alloy samples, and suggests that the atomic level structure of the nanoparticles corresponds to that of a fully disordered (A2-type) alloy phase. Exploration of the effect of cobalt on the 57Fe hyperfine parameters of iron microenvironments suggests that in these alloys the electronic state of Fe atoms is perturbed equally and in an additive manner by atoms in their first two coordination spheres