Quantitative measurement of Au and Fe in ferromagnetic nanoparticles with Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy using a polymer-based gel matrix

Abstract The medical applications of nanomaterials require substantial changes in the research and development stage, such as the introduction of new processes and methods, and adequate modifications of the national and international laws on the medical product registration. To accomplish this, proper parameterizations of nano-scaled products need to be developed and implemented, accompanied by suitable measuring methods. The introduction of metallic particles to medical practices requires the precise, quantitative evaluation of the production process and later quantification and characterization of the nanoparticles in biological matrices for the bioavailability and biodistribution evaluation. In order to address these issues we propose a method for the quantitative analysis of the metallic nanoparticles composition by Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). Au/Fe ferro-magnetic nanoparticles were used to evaluate the method applicability. Since the powder form of nanoparticles spatters upon laser ablation, first we had to develop fast, convenient and quantitative method for the nano-powdered sample preparation. The proposed method is based on the polymer gelation of nanopowders or their water suspensions. It has been shown that nanopowders compositional changes throughout the production process, along with their final characterization, can be reliable performed with LIBS technique. The quantitative values obtained were successfully correlated with those derived with ICP technique.