Journal of Biotechnology & Biomaterials
Open Access

Abstract

Magnetic nano-particles (MNPâ��s) of iron oxide and other transitions elements are ideal candidates for their use in biomedical areas as contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and thermo-seeds for magnetic hyperthermia treatment. In this work, MNPâ��s of MnxGa1-xFe2O4 (x=0-1) were synthesized by sol-gel method using citric acid as chelating agent of metallic precursors. The synthesized powder was identified by X-Ray Diffraction as an inverse spinel structure of Fe1.4Ga1.6O4 where the substitution of manganese ions was observed by slightly reflections displacements on the diffraction patterns. Magnetization saturation values obtained for the synthesized samples were in the range within 14.2 and 53.7 emu/g, while the coercivity field was below 67 Oe in all cases. Transmission Electronic Microscopy allowed the determination of the particle size, which was around 18 nm. Magnetic induction results showed an efficient temperature increase of the nano-particles under a magnetic field and quantities of 4.5 mg of MNPs per ml of liquid medium are enough to increase the temperature at 43.5 �°C in around 7 minutes. Hemolysis was tested using suspensions of 3.0, 4.5, 6.0 and 10.0 mg of magnetic material per ml of solution and the results showed hemolytic values below 2% in all the cases. According to the results discussed above it is expected that these synthesized nano-particles can be potentially used as thermo-seeds for cancer treatment by hyperthermia therapy.

Biography

Dora Alicia Cortes Hernandez works at CINESTAV, Mexico and he is a Member of the National System for Professors. He has published 85 papers in indexed journals and 100 papers in proceedings. He has supervised and graduated 14 PhD students and 12 MSc students. His research areas of interest are bioactive ceramic systems, antibacterial materials, magnetic nano-particles and bio-mimetic coatings.

Email: dora.cortes@cinvestav.edu.mx