Magnetic Iron

Oxide Nano
Particles
Synthesis And Biological
N.H.K.S.Senathilake
Student Index 8558
Use Department of Chemistry
University of Colombo
Sri lanka, August 2009
 What is nano technology.?
“ The Design, Fabrication and Utilization Of
materials,
Structures,
devices and systems
through control matter on the nanometer
scale and exploitation of novel
phenomena and properties (physical,
chemical, biological) at that length scale In
At Least One Dimension ”.
 Nano particles to Nano structures
First generation Nano particles
E.g.-Fe2O3, Au, Ag, polystyrene particles

Second generation Nano particles

e.g.-Sio2 coated Fe3O4 particles

Advanced generation Nano particles

e.g.- ligand coated SiO2+Fe3O4 particles

2D &3D complex Nano Structures

 Nano particle development

First generation Second generation -

pure Nano particles chemically modified
(Metal ,metal oxide, particle surface
polymer etc)

Advanced generation –
Further modification to
functionalize particles
Why ferities?-The unique feature of magnetic
Nano particles
Iron oxides having magnetic properties
with low relaxation time and less Fe2O3 or Fe3O4
toxic to biological systems Particles-1st generation

SiO2 coated 2nd

Particles that can be controlled by generation
an external magnetic force particles

Biologically
active
Functionalize the particle surface or
magnetic
enclose them in a functioning Nano
nanoparticle to achieve biological, Particles-
medical benefit advanced
generation
Biological applications of MIONPs
 Signal enhancers in MRI imaging

MRI. A well-known application in the field of diagnosis is

the use of MNP s as contrast agents for magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI),

Better differentiate healthy and pathological tissues and

to visualize various biological events inside the body.

Low toxicity and low relaxation time

 Targeted drug delivery and controlled
Release
small size
Low toxicity to humans,
Can be transported through an
external magnetic field gradient,
penetrating deep into the human
tissue.
Attaching a drug to a biocompatible
MNP carrier, injecting the ferrofluid
into the bloodstream, and applying
an external magnetic field to
concentrate the drug/carrier
complexes at the target site. Drug
Drug
particles
particles
E.G.- cytotoxic drugs in cancer Magnetite
Magnetit
treatments. particles
particles
 Hyperthermia
Based on the ability of MNPs to be heated when a vibrating
magnetic field is applied. This characteristic is used to burn
away cancer cells (hyperthermia).

cancer cells are more sensitive to temperatures in excess

of 41°C than their normal counterparts. which can
specifically destroy a desired target without deteriorating
healthy surrounding tissue.

MIONPs functionalizes to have folic acids (ligand) on the

surface. This MIONPs binds to folic acid receptors
facilitating the receptor mediated uptake in to malignant
cells. Once the tumor cells engulfed the nanoparticles, then
heated the nanoparticles with a rapidly oscillating external
magnetic field.
 Magnetic labeling

Great promise as magnetic labels in biosensing with many

advantages over conventional labels such as enzymes, fluorescent
dyes, chemiluminescent molecules, and radioisotopes.

Magnetically labeled entities can be purified, transported, and

detected at the same time.
E.g.- and cost-effective cancer screening in a specific blood
purification by hemoperfusion

Labeling of stem cells to noninvasively monitor the distribution and

fate of transplanted stem cells in the human body.
 Separation of biological entities
The attraction between an external magnet and MNP labeled
components
E.g- Isolation of cancer cells in blood samples,
stem cells in bone marrow
removal of toxins from the human blood
(hemoperfusion).

MNPs can be biologically activated to allow the uptake of cells via

endocytotic pathways, thereby allowing certain cellular
compartments to be specifically addressed. Once taken up, the
desired cellular compartments can be magnetically isolated and
accurately studied using proteomic analysis.
 Challenges
Two main challenges to make all the above-discussed biomedical
applications come true:

1) A good synthesis route for manufacturing monodisperse MNPs with

diameters <20nm;
2).A good method to functionalize the surface of the nanoparticles
 Synthesis of MNPs for biological use
Magnetic nanoparticles for biomedical applications have to be,

Uniform in size
Monodisperse
Smaller size
Synthesis protocols involves two common steps
short nucleation step,
slower growth process on the existing nuclei.

1. Micro emulsion
Controlling the very low interfacial tension in precipitation matrix
through the addition of a co surfactant (e.g., an alcohol of
intermediate chain length),
2.Co precipitation
Metal oxide precipitation and a polymerization reaction is carried out
at the same time so that the developing particles are trapped inside
the tiny polymer beads.
 Synthesis of MNPs for biological use..ctd

The disadvantages of these water-based methods are that the size

uniformity and crystallinity of the MNPs are rather poor, and
nanoparticle aggregation is commonly observed.

3.Thermal decomposition (Sun method)

Involves the high-temperature decomposition (>220°C) of an
organic iron precursor in the presence of hydrophobic ligands
such as oleic acid These hydrophobic ligands form a dense
coating around the nanoparticles, thereby avoiding their
aggregation
This method yields uniform and better crystals
Synthesis of MNPs for biological use..ctd

A major disadvantage in thermal decomposition is that the resulting

nanoparticles are soluble only in nonpolar solvents due to their coating
with hydrophobic ligands.

Hence, to make MNPs suitable for biological applications, the

hydrophobic ligand coating needs to be replaced by a hydrophilic
polymer coating to obtain water soluble particles
 Synthesis of MNPs for biological use..ctd

Functionalizing the particle

Chemically active nano particle can then be coated with bio-active

components such as ligands, antibodies Using the knowledge of
surface chemistry of the particle,

Or these particles can be trapped (by co precipitation) in a nano

beads like liposomes, bio degradable polymers which already have
active components
Synthesis of MNPs for biological use..ctd
Characterization
1. Energy Filtered
Transmission Electron
Microscopy
.
2. Energy Dispersive
X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS)

3. Field Emission Transmission

Electron Microscopy

4. X-ray diffraction (XRD)

analysis
References

1. Biomedical applications using magnetic nanoparticles Els Parton

at el

2. Q.A. Pankhurst, at el "Applications of Magnetic Nanoparticles in

Biomedicine," Journal of Physics 36, pp. R167–R181, 2003.

3. C. Xu, S. Sun, "Monodisperse Magnetic Nanoparticles for

Biomedical Applications," Polymer International, 56, pp. 821–826,
2007

4. T. Hyeon, "Chemical Synthesis of Magnetic Nanoparticles,"

Chemical Communication, pp. 927–934, 2007.

5. S. Sun at el -Nanoparticles," Journal of the American Chemical

Society, 126, pp. 273–279, 2004.

6. R. De Palma et al., "Silane Ligand Exchange to Make

Hydrophobic Super-paramagnetic Nanoparticles Water-dispersible,"
Chemistry of Materials, 19, pp. 1821–1831, 2007.
Questions ?