Synthesis and investigation of toxicity and photothermal effect of NiFe2O4@Cu core-shell nanoparticles

Abstract

In this study, NiFe2O4 and NiFe2O4@Cu nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized based on the co-precipitation method. The formation of cubic NiFe2O4 and NiFe2O4@Cu NPs was confirmed by the Bragg reflections in XRD analysis. The SEM images showed the distribution of the irregularly shaped agglomeration of NiFe2O4 and NiFe2O4@Cu NPs. The size distributions of the NiFe2O4@Cu samples with two different core shell thicknesses were mostly about 10.39 and 13.31 nm. The superparamagnetic nature of the synthesized NPs was verified by VSM at room temperature, and the NPs’ saturation magnetization was found to be 37.04 emu/g, which was reduced after shielding the core. Furthermore, to investigate the cancer cell viability and cytotoxicity of the NPs on MCF7 breast cancer cells, different concentrations of NPs were examined. The response of the NiFe2O4@Cu NPs to the laser light irradiations indicated that these NPs can potentially be used for biomedical applications such as photothermal treatment.