Synthesis and magneto-structural properties of chitosan coated ultrafine cobalt ferrite nanoparticles for magnetic fluid hyperthermia in viscous medium

AC induction heating mediated magnetic fluid hyperthermia of superparamagnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) is being widely explored for localized thermo-therapy of tumours. One of the primary hindrances for rapid adaptation of this technique is the loss of heating efficiency when the MNPs are placed within the viscous tissue medium, which necessitates undesired increase in MNP concentrations or exposure time during practical applications. With an objective to mitigate this, here we report the viscosity independent magnetic hyperthermia properties of biocompatible ultrafine (average size similar to 2.5 nm) chitosan-coated superparamagnetic CoFe2O4 MNPs synthesized using a low-cost co-precipitation technique. The presence of the chitosan coating is confirmed from Fourier transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The superparamagnetic nature of the synthesized MNPs at 300 K is confirmed from Mossbauer spectroscopy, isothermal and temperature dependent magnetization studies. Experimental findings indicate a higher field-induced heating efficiency for the chitosan-coated MNPs due to superior colloidal stability. The ultrafine size, combined with higher anisotropy energy density, results in viscosity independent Neel relaxation-dominated magneto-thermal energy conversion for the CoFe2O4 MNPs. Experimental results reveal negligible loss of heating efficiency due to partial abrogation of Brownian relaxation when the chitosan-coated MNPs are immobilized in a tissue-equivalent agar medium, which is beneficial for practical applications. The heating efficiency of similar to 72.1 +/- 2.8 W/g(Fe) (at 33.1 kA/m and 126 kHz), obtained in the present study for the chitosan-coated MNPs, is higher than the previously documented values for ultrafine CoFe2O4 MNPs, which is useful for reducing the exposure time during practical applications. Further, the chitosan coating rendered the ultrafine CoFe2O4 MNPs bio-compatible against L929 cell line. The satisfactory magnetic fluid hyperthermia efficiency, negligible room temperature coercivity, retention of the field-induced heating efficiency in tissue-equivalent agar medium due to Neel-dominated relaxation dynamics and superior biocompatibility, make the chitosan-coated ultrafine CoFe2O4 MNPs an attractive candidate for practical MFH applications.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates the viscosity-independent magnetic hyperthermia properties of chitosan-coated ultrafine CoFe2O4 MNPs, showing higher field-induced heating efficiency.