Synergistic Effect of Silver Nanoparticles on Magnetic Hyperthermia of Fe3O4 Nanoparticles

Abstract

Cancer represents a significant global health challenge, characterized by uncontrolled cell division leading to various malignancies. It is the second leading cause of death worldwide, contributing to approximately 9.2 million deaths annually. Each treatment approach has distinct mechanisms and applications. Hyperthermia involves heating tissues to treat cancer. Hyperthermia itself is categorized into regional, local, and whole-body types, with its mechanism that includes thermal conduction and radiation exposure. Magnetic hyperthermia, a modern technique, employs magnetic materials to generate heat through hysteresis and relaxation losses, showing promise in enhancing the efficacy of conventional cancer treatments. Understanding these diverse treatments and their mechanisms is crucial for advancing cancer care and improving patient outcomes. In this study, we have studied the synergistic effect of silver nanoparticles on the magnetic Hyperthermia of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Fe3O4 nanoparticles were synthesized by co- precipitation method. They were coated with a bilayer of oleic acid (OA). Fe3O4 nanoparticles have superparamagnetic behavior, evidenced by very low coercivity and remanence. The saturation magnetization of synthesized nanoparticles is 26.38 emu/g whereas the hydrodynamic size of Fe3O4 fluids is 36.7 nm as it is diluted with Ag nanoparticles, hydrodynamic size increases to 63.9 nm. Optimum conditions of magnetic hyperthermia measurements of Fe3O4 fluid were established by performing measurements as a function of magnetic field strength (10 mT), field frequency (935.6 kHz), and nanoparticle concentration for 10 mins. Upon comparison, it is observed that the % decrease in temperature rise is less when diluted with Ag NPs as compared to that with DI. This can be attributed to enhanced aggregation of NPs upon dilution with Ag NPs and higher thermal conductivity of Ag NPs as compared to DI water