Synthesis, characterization and biomedical assays of iron oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

The present project is focused on the synthesis, characterization and evaluation of cytotoxicity of metallic Fe nanoparticles. To this end, we will study the morphological, structural and magnetic properties of iron nanoparticles synthesized by co-precipitation and thermal decomposition methods. We intend to investigate the synthesis parameters, relating them with the characteristics of the produced nanoparticles (NPs) in order to improve their biocompatibility, compared to the results found in the literature, and thus evaluating their applicability in biomedicine. The goal of this first step is to explore the mechanisms of nucleation and the parameters that influence the structure, morphology and the magnetic characteristics of this class of compounds, since they directly influence their properties. The functionalization of the nanoparticles surface´s will be performed with biocompatible molecules such as chitosan (CS) and mercaptsuccinic acid (MSA). These vehicles will be anchored with bioactive molecules such as acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) and ibuprofen. Structural, morphological and magnetic characterizations as well as the efficiency of functionalization of ligands on the surface of the NPs will be performed by different techniques. The second step of the project focuses on the use of these systems as vehicles for releasing drugs into cells extracted from mouse fibroblasts (3T3). (AU)