Preparation conditions effect on the physico-chemical properties of magnetic–plasmonic core–shell nanoparticles functionalized with chitosan: Green route

Abstract We study the effect of temperatures and salt concentrations (two different points) on the physico-chemical and cytotoxicity properties of the core–shell magnetic–plasmonicnanoparticles functionalized with chitosan. This nano-composite core–shell has been produced through a green, facile, one-pot method using the fungal species Fuzarium oxyporium . The protocol of synthesis has been recorded as a patent in the Egyptian Academy of Science with no:2209/2017. We have proved the involvement of chitosan present in the fungal cell wall in the process of biosynthesis in addition to the decoration of the outer most layer of the nanocomposite by the chitosan functional groups. Characterization of the nanoparticles under selected conditions was performed by UV/visible, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and the dynamic light scattering (DLS). Furthermore, the cytotoxicity of the biosynthesized nanoparticles has been investigated for four different cell lines to identify the best condition for the biomedical applications. The data reveals that the 80 °C and the higher iron salt concentration yield the least particle size ∼  0.2, and least cytotoxicity 6% against liver cancer cell line and zero against other studied cell lines, additionally, it shows the best physico-chemical properties.