Synthesis and Magnetic Properties of Folate Chitosan Coated Cobalt Ferrite Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles were synthesized by co-precipitation method and were coated with biocompatible, biodegradable folate chitosan. The XRD studies confirmed the formation of single phase with inverse spinel structure. The lattice parameter calculated from XRD was founded to be 8.335 Å and average crystallite size was ~12 nm. Similar particle size (5-15 nm) was determined from the TEM analysis. A good crytallinity and single phase formation of the synthesized nanoparticles were confirmed using the HRTEM lattice fringes and SAED patterns diffraction rings, respectively. The value of saturation magnetization for uncoated CoFe2O4 nanoparticle was 44 emu/g and it was reduced to 40 emu/g for folate chitosan coating. The Mössbauer spectra demonstrated superparamagnetic phases embedded in the ferromagnetic matrix which had the good agreement with the M-H curve. The FTIR and Raman spectroscopy studies confirmed the spinel structure of the CoFe2O4 nanoparticle and coated CoFe2O4 nanoparticles. The DSC-TG curves show that the exothermal reaction and mass loss were occurred in the CoFe2O4 nanoparticle. The hydrodynamic size and polydispersity index of all the samples were varied from 143-361 nm and 0.185-0.331, respectively at different temperature which are promising results for biomedical applications. The positive zeta potential value of all the samples confirmed that the folate chitosan was stably coated on the surface of the nanoparticles. Induction heating of folate chitosan coated CoFe2O4 was investigated to reveal the self-heating temperature rising properties. The heating capability was found in the hyperthermia range (42-45 ºC) for all the samples. To demonstrate CoFe2O4 as a good contrast agent, the MRI images obtained from the phantoms and in-vivo experiments using Albino Wister rats.