Synthesis, characterization and cytotoxicity study of magnetic (Fe3O4) nanoparticles and their drug conjugate

An easy synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4) is described. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) have been used to study the well dispersed and uniformly spherical nanoparticles. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) has been successfully loaded onto the nanoparticles and cytotoxicity studies were performed using a standard MTT assay. The results indicate that 5-fluorouracil-loaded iron nanoparticles are a more potent anticancer drug versus 5-fluorouracil alone.