Fabrication of magnetic α-Fe₂O₃/Fe₃O₄ heterostructure nanorods via the urea hydrolysis-calcination process and their biocompatibility with LO₂ and HepG₂ cells

Abstract

β-FeOOH nanorods were prepared via the urea hydrolysis process with the average length of 289.1 nm and average diameter of 61.2 nm, while magnetic α-Fe2O3/Fe3O4 heterostructure nanorods were prepared via the urea calcination process with β-FeOOH nanorods as precursor, and the optimum conditions were the calcination temperature of 400 °C, the calcination time of 2 h, the β-FeOOH/urea mass ratio of 1:6. The average length, diameter, and the saturation magnetization of the heterostructure nanorods prepared under the optimum conditions were 328.8 nm, 63.4 nm and 42 emu·g−1, respectively. The Prussian blue test demonstrated that the heterostructure nanorods could be taken up by HepG2 cells, and cytotoxicity tests proved that the heterostructure nanorods had no significant effect on the viabilities of LO2 and HepG2 cells within 72 h in the range of 100–1600 μg·ml−1. Therefore, magnetic α-Fe2O3/Fe3O4 heterostructure nanorods had better biocompatibility with LO2 and HepG2 cells.

Crafting Iron Oxides for Next-Generation Biomedical Applications

“…α-Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles, although offering stability and biocompatibility, , have low saturation magnetization, thereby reducing the response to applied magnetic fields. This weakness causes inefficiencies in the recovery and manipulation of nanoparticles using magnetic forces. , In contrast, Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles have high saturation magnetization , but face severe aggregation problems, thereby hindering the uniform dispersion that is essential for effective use. Therefore, balancing the lower saturation magnetization of α-Fe 2 O 3 with the higher magnetization of Fe 3 O 4 is carried out, thereby effectively reducing the respective weaknesses.…”