Preparation of Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles coated with gallic acid for drug delivery

Dena Dorniani,¹ Mohd Zobir Bin Hussein,^1,2 Aminu Umar Kura,³ Sharida Fakurazi,³ Abdul Halim Shaari,⁴ Zalinah Ahmad<sup>5

1</sup>Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, ²Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology Laboratory, Institute of Advanced Technology, ³Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics Laboratory, ⁴Physics Department, Faculty of Science, ⁵Chemical Pathology Unit, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia

Background and methods: Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles were prepared using a sonochemical method under atmospheric conditions at a Fe²⁺ to Fe³⁺ molar ratio of 1:2. The iron oxide nanoparticles were subsequently coated with chitosan and gallic acid to produce a core-shell structure.
Results: X-ray diffraction demonstrated that the magnetic nanoparticles were pure Fe₃O₄ with a cubic inverse spinel structure. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were of spherical shape with a mean diameter of 11 nm, compared with 13 nm for the iron oxide-chitosan-gallic acid (FCG) nanocarriers.
Conclusion: The magnetic nanocarrier enhanced the thermal stability of the drug, gallic acid. Release of the active drug from the FCG nanocarrier was found to occur in a controlled manner. The gallic acid and FCG nanoparticles were not toxic in a normal human fibroblast (3T3) line, and anticancer activity was higher in HT29 than MCF7 cell lines.

Keywords: magnetic nanoparticles, chitosan, superparamagnetic, controlled-release, gallic acid, drug delivery

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