Nanopartículas magnéticas de ZnxCo1−xFe2O4 para aplicação em hipertermia

Abstract

Nanostructured magnetic materials are the focus of several and important studies over the years due to their great technological potential, ranging from the manufacture of sensors to biomedical applications. Among the biomedical applications, we can highlight the silica-magnetite composites that are used for magnetic bioseparation, CoFe2O4 nanoparticles as contrast agents for magnetic resonance images. In addition, these CoFe2O4 nanoparticles can also be widely used as vectors for transporting and releasing drugs in a thermally controlled manner and in magnetic hyperthermia for the treatment of cancerous tumors. This latter therapeutic procedure, commonly called hyperthermia, corresponds simply to providing an increase in the temperature of a region of the human body that is affected by a neoplasm, in order to cause the lysis of cancer cells. This work we seek to investigate the structural, magnetic and hyperthermia properties of ZnxCo1−xFe2O4 nanoparticles with different concentrations, produced by the co-precipitation method. The investigated samples were characterized by X ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, magnetometry, Mössbauer spectroscopy and calorimetry. The results are promising because they suggest that the investigated materials can be used as magnetic agents for the transport of drugs and for the treatment of tumors through magnetic hyperemia.