Synthesis of Cu0.5Zn0.5-xNixFe2O4 nanoparticles as heating agents for possible cancer treatment

Magnetic mixed ferrites with high heating efficacy have attracted lots of attention as a complementary method for cancer treatment via magnetic hyperthermia therapy. In the present study, magnetic Cu0.5Zn0.5-xNixFe2O4 nanoparticles were synthesized via a sol–gel combustion method. The effects of nickel substitution (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) on the magnetic and structural properties of the produced nanoparticles were investigated. The produced magnetic nanopowders were studied via X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), simultaneous thermal analysis (STA), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and vibrating-sample magnetometry (VSM) techniques. The results showed that the saturation magnetization and coercivity of ZnCuFe2O4 nanoparticles were strongly affected by nickel substitution in the structure so that saturation magnetization decreased from 55.4 emu/g to 36.0 emu/g, whereas coercivity increased from 87.9 Oe to 156.4 Oe. In addition, saturation magnetization for the Cu0.5Zn0.4Ni0.1Fe2O4 sample increases from 55 to 58.1 emu/g with a rise in calcination temperature from 400 to 700 °C, respectively. The heating efficiency of the samples was investigated under different magnetic fields for magnetic hyperthermia therapy. The Cu0.5Zn0.4Ni0.1Fe2O4 sample exhibits a temperature increase from 37 °C to 49.5 °C during 10 min in the exposure of a magnetic field of 400 Oe and frequency of 200 kHz. The specific absorption rate value calculated for the Cu0.5Zn0.5-xNixFe2O4 nanoparticles was 53.1 W/g. With the increase in the viscosity of the environment, the heating efficiency of nanoparticles is reduced. Despite this decrease, the magnetic characteristics of nanoparticles remained strong enough to envision their usage as heating agents in magnetic hyperthermia.