Abstract
In recent years, use of magnetic nanoparticles in biomedical applications has increased tremendously. In particular, magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles being highly biocompatible are rated very high due to their potential applications in biomedicines, for instance in anticancer drug delivery. In this work, the Fe3O4 nanoparticles have been synthesized using a novel sol-gel based autocombustion technique. The crystal structure of the Fe3O4 phase was confirmed by the data obtained from X-ray diffraction. Scherrer's formula was employed to estimate the crystallite size of the Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The structural morphology, investigated by using a scanning electron microscopy (SEM), revealed well-dispersed and uniform sized grains in the sample prepared using enhanced fuel concentration. A vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) was employed to investigate the magnetic characteristics of the samples which confirmed the superparamagnetic nature of the Fe3O4 samples, essentially required for cancer treatment. These nanoparticles could further be modified and functionalized by suitable polymers to achieve better biocompatibility before being injected into the diseased cells.