Magnetic nanoparticle heating efficiency reveals magneto-structural differences when characterized with wide ranging and high amplitude alternating magnetic fields

Magnetic nanoparticles can create heat that can be exploited to treat cancer when they are exposed to alternating magnetic fields (AMF). At a fixed frequency, the particle heating efficiency or specific power loss (SPL) depends upon the magnitude of the AMF. We characterized the amplitude-dependent SPL of three commercial dextran-iron oxide nanoparticle suspensions through saturation to 94 kA/m with a calorimeter comprising a solenoid coil that generates a uniform field to 100 kA/m at similar to 150 kHz. We also describe a novel method to empirically determine the appropriate range of the heating curve from which the SPL is then calculated. These results agree with SPL values calculated from the phenomenological Box-Lucas equation. We note that the amplitude-dependent SPL among the samples was markedly different, indicating significant magneto-structural variation not anticipated by current models. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3597820]