Fabrication of ?-Fe2O3 Nanostructures: Synthesis, Characterization, and Their Promising Application in the Treatment of Carcinoma A549 Lung Cancer Cells

In the present work, iron nanoparticles were synthesized in the alpha-Fe2O3 phase with the reduction of potassium hexachloroferrate(III) by using L-ascorbic acid as a reducing agent in the presence of an amphiphilic non-ionic polyethylene glycol surfactant in an aqueous solution. The synthesized alpha-Fe2O3 NPs were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, dynamic light scattering, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry. The powder X-ray diffraction analysis result confirmed the formation of alpha-Fe2O3 NPs, and the average crystallite size was found to be 45 nm. The other morphological studies suggested that alpha-Fe2O3 NPs were predominantly spherical in shape with a diameter ranges from 40 to 60 nm. The dynamic light scattering analysis revealed the zeta potential of alpha-Fe2O3 NPs as -28 +/- 18 mV at maximum stability. The ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry analysis shows an absorption peak at 394 nm, which is attributed to their surface plasmon vibration. The cytotoxicity test of synthesized alpha-Fe2O3 NPs was investigated against human carcinoma A549 lung cancer cells, and the biological adaptability exhibited by alpha-Fe2O3 NPs has opened a pathway to biomedical applications in the drug delivery system. Our investigation confirmed that L-ascorbic acid-coated alpha-Fe2O3 NPs with calculated IC50 <= 30 mu g/mL are the best suited as an anticancer agent, showing the promising application in the treatment of carcinoma A549 lung cancer cells.

Automated summary

In this study, iron nanoparticles in the alpha-Fe2O3 phase were successfully synthesized using L-ascorbic acid as a reducing agent. The synthesized nanoparticles exhibited good morphology and stability, and showed promising biological adaptability against human carcinoma A549 lung cancer cells.