Magnetic and inductive heating properties of Fe3O4/polyethylene glycol composite nanoparticles with core-shell structure

Abstract The magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) nanoparticles were prepared by coprecipitation of Fe 3+ and Fe 2+ using ammonium hydroxide (NH 4 OH) as a precipitating agent. The Fe 3 O 4 /polyethylene glycol (PEG) magnetic composite nanoparticles with a core–shell structure with a diameter of 10–40 nm were prepared by two step additions of the primary and the secondary surfactants, respectively. The inductive heat property of Fe 3 O 4 /PEG composite nanoparticles in an alternating current (AC) magnetic field was investigated. The potential of Fe 3 O 4 /PEG nanoparticles was evaluated for localized hyperthermia treatment of cancers. The saturation magnetization, Ms , and coercivity, Hc , are 67.06 emu g −1 and 7 Oe for Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles and 64.11 emu g −1 and 14 Oe for Fe 3 O 4 /PEG composite nanoparticles, respectively. Exposed in the AC magnetic field for 100 s, the temperatures of physiological saline suspensions containing Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles or Fe 3 O 4 /PEG composite nanoparticles are 89.2 °C and 72.2 °C, respectively. The Fe 3 O 4 /PEG composite nanoparticles will be useful as good thermoseeds for localized hyperthermia treatment of cancers.