Aminoacid Inspired Tunable Superparamagntic Iron oxide (SPION) Nanostructures with High Magnetic Hyperthermia Potential for Biofunctional Applications

Tunable nanostructured superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) with saturation magnetization value 79.4 emu g-1 were synthesized at room temperature with Fe (III) chloride and aminoacid (AA) templates - alanine, glycine and glutamic acid, presenting a superior alternative to conventional SPION synthesis. Further, the diversity in the SPION nanostructure building-block units and correspondingly their relation with magnetic as well as biofunctionality index has been evaluated. The results demonstrate that the fundamental structure and crystallinity of AA play key roles in dictating the organization of the assembled structures and thereby magnetization behavior. Fe-Alanine, Fe-Glycine and Fe-Glutamic acid systems presented disc-like SPIONs nanocrystallites (20-30 nm), nanoheart shaped (10-20 nm) and elongated petals of flowers (30-40 nm) respectively which further assembled into helical nanostructures/microscale flowers at elevated AA concentrations. The SPIONs ensured good cytocompatility, DNA binding and excellent magnetic hyperthermia potential even at lower concentration (5 mg/mL). The study presents a novel class of promising magnetic nanoprobes with tunable building-block units and microscale assembled structures for magnetically targeted biofunctional applications.