Bioactive magnetic nanoparticles of Fe-Ga synthesized by sol-gel for their potential use in hyperthermia treatment

Hyperthermia is one of the most recents therapies for cancer treatment using particles with nanometric size and appropriate magnetic properties for destroying cancer cells. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNP's) of Fe-Ga and synthesized using a polycondensation reaction by sol-gel method were obtained. MNP's of Fe1.4Ga1.6O4 that posses an inverse spinel structure were identified by X-Ray Diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy. The results showed that the MNP's are composed only by Fe, Ga and O and their size is between 15 and 20 nm. The magnetic properties measured by Vibration Sample Magnetometry demonstrated a saturation magnetization value of 37.5 emu/g. To induce the MNP's bioactivity, a biomimetic method was used which consisted in the immersion of MNP's in a Simulated Body Fluid (SBF) for different periods of time (7, 14 and 21d) along with a wollastonite disk. The formation of a bioactive layer, which closely resembles that formed on the existing bioactive systems and with a Ca/P atomic ratio within a range of 1.37-1.73 was observed on the MNP's. Cytotoxicity of MNP's was evaluated by in vitro hemolysis testing using human red blood cells at concentrations between 0.25 and 6.0 mg/mL. It was found that the MNP's were not cytotoxic at none of the concentrations used. The results indicate that Fe-Ga MNP's are potential materials for cancer treatment of both hard and soft tissue by hyperthermia and drug carriers, among other applications.