Synthesis of novel CoCx@C nanoparticles

CoCx nanoparticles encapsulated in carbon shells were synthesized using a pulsed plasma in liquid ethanol. This is the first time that monolithic cubic phase cobalt carbide nanoparticles have been obtained. X-ray diffraction refinement of the nanoparticles showed that the lattice parameter of prepared cubic phase cobalt carbide is larger than that of CoCx (44-0962) and cubic phase Co (15-0806 and 01-1259). The x-ray absorption fine structure spectra near the Co K-edge of the synthesized sample indicated differences from commercial metallic cobalt and cobalt oxide samples. High resolution transmission electron microscopy revealed that a thin carbon coating covered the surface of the nanoparticles. These carbon layers might isolate core CoCx material from the outside environment, and allow functionalization by carboxyl groups for the further purpose of targeted drug delivery. The obtained CoCx@C particles, with a crystallite size of about 10 nm confirmed by the electron microscope, aggregate into 20-40 nm secondary particles in distilled water as shown by dynamic light scattering, and possess high saturation magnetization of about 120 emu g(-1). The sodium 3'-[1-(phenylaminocarbonyl)-3,4-tetrazolium]-bis(4-methoxy-6-nitro)benzene sulfonic acid hydrate assay and defragmentation of deoxyribonucleic acid on MCF-7 cells after incubation with particles indicate relatively low cytotoxicity of CoCx@C nanoparticles, compared with micro-sized and nano-sized metallic cobalt particles and commonly used iron oxides. For the small sized CoCx@C particles, the release of cobalt ions was checked by a chelation method with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid solution to be at a very low level compared with other reference materials.