Fabrication of Fe3O4@mSiO2 Core-Shell Composite Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery Applications

Abstract

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.We report the synthesis of Fe3O4@mSiO2 nanostructures of different meso-silica (mSiO2) shell thickness, their biocompatibility and behaviors for loading and release of a model drug ibuprofen. The composite nanostructures have superparamagnetic magnetite cores of 208 nm average size and meso-silica shells of 15 to 40 nm thickness. A modified Stöber method was used to grow the meso-silica shells over the hydrothermally grown monodispersed magnetite particles. The composite nanoparticles show very promising drug holding and releasing behaviors, which depend on the thickness of meso-silica shell. The biocompatibility of the meso-silica-coated and uncoated magnetite nanoparticles was tested through cytotoxicity assay on breast cancer (MCF-7), ovarian cancer (SKOV3), normal human lung fibroblasts MRC-5, and IMR-90 cells. The high drug holding capacity and reasonable biocompatibility of the nanostructures make them ideal agents for targeted drug delivery applications in human body.

Fabrication of Fe3O4@mSiO2 Core-Shell Composite Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery Applications

“…Magnetite nanoparticles were synthesized through EG mediated solvothermal process following the procedure we reported earlier [ 26 ]. In a typical synthesis process, first a 0.6-M solution of FeCl 3 in EG was prepared by dissolving 1.6211 g of FeCl 3 ·6H 2 O in 10 mL of EG.…”

“…For fabricating meso-silica covers over the prefabricated magnetite nanoparticles, we used a modified Stöber method [ 27 ] very similar to the method we reported earlier [ 26 ]. About 10 mg of prefabricated magnetite nanoparticles were dispersed in 50 mL of ethanol under ultrasonic agitation.…”