Magnetic nanoparticles coated with polysaccharide polymers for potential biomedical applications

This study reports a two-steps route for obtaining magnetic nanoparticles–polysaccharide hybrid materials consisting of Fe3O4, NiFe2O4 and CuFe2O4 nanoparticles synthesis by coprecipitation method in the presence of a soft template followed by coating of ferrite nanoparticles of 8–10-nm size range with polysaccharide type polymers—sodium alginate or chitosan. Magnetic oxide nanoparticles and the corresponding hybrid materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Mossbauer spectroscopy, atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), FTIR spectroscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) and specific surface area measurements. The vibrating sample magnetometry confirms the superparamagnetic properties of the synthesized ferrites and hybrids. Using this route, the percent of magnetic nanoparticles retained in chitosan-based hybrid materials is nearly double in comparison with that of sodium alginate–based materials. The biological activity tests on Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas aeroginosa ATCC 27853, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Candida scotti microorganisms show the non-toxic properties of prepared hybrid materials.