• Fabrication and cytotoxicity of surface-capped maghemite nanoparticles with oleic acid
  • Mina Zangouei,1 Zahra Meshkat,2 Aida Gholoobi,3,*
    1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran.
    2. Antimicrobial Resistance Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
    3. Medical Genetics Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.


  • Introduction: Maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) nanoparticles exhibit unique magnetic properties and the capacity to interact with biological molecules and cells at the cellular level, causing them to be a worthwhile choice for multiple biomedical purposes.
  • Methods: we synthesized maghemite NPs using ammonium hydroxide as a precipitating agent in the chemical co-precipitation method. Proper maghemite NPs size necessitates the appropriate reaction temperature and surface modification. Herein, oleic acid (OA) was utilized as a capping agent to enhance NPs properties.
  • Results: In this study, the maghemite nanoparticle size was effectively handled to be in the 16-27 nm range. An analysis of their structure and morphology was carried out by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopic (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Moreover, the magnetic behavior was studied through a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). These NPs were then found to be superparamagnetic iron oxide NPs (SPIONs) with high saturation magnetization (36.5 emu/g). The in vitro cytotoxicity assessments on human cervical cancer (CaSki) and normal human umbilical vein endothelial (HUVEC) cells showed that NPs in neither cancer nor the normal cell lines were cytotoxic, even when dosed at 50 μg/mL.
  • Conclusion: The safety and size of capped-NPs with OA make them potentially valuable for further therapeutic and diagnostic in biomedicine.
  • Keywords: Maghemite, Superparamagnetism, Cytotoxicity, Biocompatible, Iron oxide.