Structural, optical, and magnetic properties of nanostructured Ag-substituted Co-Zn ferrites: insights on anticancer and antiproliferative activities

Magnetic spinel ferrite nanoparticles possess high scientific attention for the researchers attributed to its broad area for biomedicine purposes, comprising cancer magnetic hyperthermia and targeted drug delivery. Herein, we report the ultrasound irritation assisted the sol–gel method for the spinel Zn0.5Co0.5-xAg2xFe2O4 (x = 0.00, 0.10, 0.20, and 0.30) nanoparticles (NPs) synthesis. The Rietveld refinement patterns revealed the successful synthesis of the cubic structure Zn0.5Co0.5-xAg2xFe2O4 and the crystallite size ranged from 14.1 nm to 18.4 nm. Also, the optical band gap decreased from 2.39 eV for Co-Zn ferrite to 2.20 eV for Zn0.5Co0.2Ag0.6Fe2O4 sample. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to study ferromagnetic resonance characteristics of the Zn0.5Co0.5-xAg2xFe2O4 samples. The resonance field was increased from 2512.2 Gauss for Co-Zn ferrite sample to 2834.8 Gauss for Zn0.5Co0.2Ag0.6Fe2O4 sample, while the line width decreased from 2401.3 to 1990.1 Gauss. Also, the saturation was reduced from 45.68 emu.g−1 for the pristine Zn0.5Co0.5Fe2O4 sample to 22.20 emu.g−1 for Zn0.5Co0.2Ag0.6Fe2O4 sample. Furthermore, cytotoxicity of Zn0.5Co0.2Ag0.6Fe2O4 NPs against human breast cancer MCF-7, HepG2 liver cancer, and LoVo colorectal cancer cells was examined. The cytotoxicity of Zn0.5Co0.2Ag0.6Fe2O4 on the previous cancer cell lines resulted in inhibition of cell growth estimated by MTT assay. The exposure of MCF-7, HepG2, and LoVo cancer cells to Zn0.5Co0.2Ag0.6Fe2O4 NPs for 24hs proved a significant apoptotic activity by significant induction of p53 gene expression and caspase activity and antiproliferative activity by amelioration of MMP-2 activity and Bcl-2 gene expression.