A facile synthetic route for the preparation of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanorods and nanorices with tunable surface functionality

摘要

A study was conducted to demonstrate a facile synthetic route for the preparation of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanorods and nanorices with tunable surface functionalities, comprising inorganic coating of different types. Some of the different coatings used in the study, include alumina and zirconia. The study demonstrated that alumina is a suitable coating for studying the dependence of the cellular uptake of nanoparticles, as a function of the surface charge. It was found that alumina has an isoelectric point around 9 and is positively charged at physiological pH. It was also observed that the ;preferential uptake of particles, with positively charged surfaces by negatively charged membranes occurs, as a result of alumina being positively charged at physiological pH.