Hyperthermic evaluation of oleic acid coated nano-spinel magnesium ferrite: Enhancement via hydrophobic-to-hydrophilic surface transformation

Abstract The work reports, enhancement in colloidal stability and hyperthermia efficiency of nano-spinel magnesium ferrite (MgFe2O4) by hydrophobic-to-hydrophilic surface transformation via oleic acid (OA) coating. The nano-spinel structured MgFe2O4 was prepared by the auto-combustion assisted sol-gel route and consequently, its surface was coated by OA. The uncoated and coated MgFe2O4 were portrayed by various physicochemical characterizations. The XRD analysis assured the unchanged single phasic cubic spinel structure and nanocrystalline nature of both the samples. FT-IR spectral analysis indicated the spinel belonging two vibrational stretching modes and OA attachment over the MgFe2O4 core. FE-SEM images revealed the nano-metric spherical type grain-morphology and visualization of OA coating. The drastic diminishment in contact angle values signifies hydrophobic to hydrophilic surface transition. M − H plots revealed the superparamagnetic appearance of uncoated and coated samples. Physisorption analysis showed the elevated surface area and pore size values. Zeta potential and DLS study displayed the enhancement in fluidic dispersion and hydro-dynamic size. The nano-particle concentration (2–10 mg/mL) dependent hyperthermia analysis was carried out for both the samples. Cell viability studies confirmed the improvement in the bio-friendly nature of MgFe2O4 via OA coating. All the outcomes show the superiority of the surface transformed MgFe2O4 nanoparticles in nano-magnetic hyperthermia treatments.