Iron Sand-Based and Ionic-Based Magnetic Nanoparticle Physical Characteristics Comparison for Biomedical Application

As one of the most abundant sand categories in Indonesia, iron sand has unrevealed potential values to be discovered. Due to its composition and properties, iron sand can be transformed into magnetic nanoparticles/nanocomposite (MNP) which has a potency to be applied in many biomedical applications. The aim of the study was to assess the paramount parameter of iron sand-based nanoparticles to be safely used in as a therapeutic goods. The pure αFe₂O₃-Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite made of Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ ion was used as control. However, pure αFe₂O₃-Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite's crystalline phase will be reconfirmed during the research since different synthesis condition may give rise to different phase. It was hypothesized that iron sand-based MNP may replace the current usage of ionic based MNP in biomedical application without diminishing its safety and efficacy. Both of iron sand-based MNP and ionic based-MNP were synthesized using co-precipitation method. In fact, pure Fe₂O₃-Fe₃O₄ was selected due to its purity and was proven for its safety. The XRD results showed that the composition of iron sand based-magnetic nanoparticles had 92% similarities in term of peak location and composition (rhombohedral for Fe₂O₃ and FCC for Fe₃O₄) compared with the chemical co-precipitation. However, there was discrepancy in particles average size between iron sand based and ionic based MNP. MTT Assay test indicated that the iron sand based-MNP had a lower toxicity than ionic based-MNP nonetheless both of them did not exhibit any significant cell death. VSM results revealed that the magnetic property of iron sand-based MNP was lower than ionic based MNP in term of magnetic susceptibility. SEM results delineated that the shape of iron sand based-MNP was ball-like shaped and had approximately 200nm in size.