  Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles have recently been investigated
for their potential to kill cancer cells with promising results, owing to their
ability to be targeted and heated by magnetic fields. In this study, novel
hydrogel, chitosan Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized to induce
magnetic hyperthermia, and targeted delivering of chemotherapeutics in the
cancer microenvironment. The characteristic properties of synthesized bare and
CS-MNPs were analyzed by various analytical methods: X-ray diffraction, Fourier
transformed infrared spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscopy and
Thermo-gravimetric analysis/differential thermal analysis. Magnetic
nanoparticles were successfully synthesized using the co-precipitation method.
This synthesis technique resulted in nanoparticles with an average particle
size of 16 nm. The pure obtained nanoparticles were then successfully
encapsulated with 4-nm-thick chitosan coating. The formation of chitosan on the
surface of nanoparticles was confirmed by physicochemical analyses. Heating
experiments at safe magnetic field (f = 100 kHz, H =10-20 kA m-1) revealed that
the maximum achieved temperature of water stable chitosan-coated nanoparticles
(50 mg ml-1) is fully in agreement with cancer therapy and biomedical
applications.

Medical Physics