Effect of lemon juice on microstructure, phase changes, and magnetic performance of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles and their use on release of anti-cancer drugs

Cobalt ferrite magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized and developed by a modified Pechini method using iron nitrate, cobalt nitrate, ethylene glycol (EG), and sucrose with different volumes of lemon juice (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 ml) as the source of chelating agent as well as nonmagnetic elements such as Ca and Mg ions. The XRD patterns confirmed that all samples synthesized by different contents of extracted lemon juice had a cubic crystal structure with single-phase spinel. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that cobalt ferrite nanoparticles had a semi-spherical morphology. Also, the vibrating sample magnetometer indicated that the saturation magnetization of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles prepared with different values of extracted lemon juice increased from 18.6 emu/g for 10 ml extracted lemon juice to 75.7 emu/g for 50 ml extracted lemon juice, after which the saturation magnetization diminished. Afterwards, the CoFe2O4 nanoparticles were coated with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and doxorubicin (DOX) drugs, whereby drug delivery was detected at different pH levels. The CoFe2O4-PEG-DOX nanocomposite could release doxorubicin by more than 42% at pH = 5.4 in 75 h.

Automated summary

In this study, cobalt ferrite magnetic nanoparticles were successfully synthesized using a modified Pechini method with lemon juice as the chelating agent. The nanoparticles exhibited cubic crystal structure with single-phase spinel, semi-spherical morphology, and varying saturation magnetization depending on the amount of lemon juice used. Furthermore, the nanoparticles were utilized for drug delivery, showing significant drug release at different pH levels.