Micellar assisted aqueous stabilization of iron oxide nanoparticles for curcumin encapsulation and hyperthermia application

Abstract Aqueous stabilization of organically modified magnetic nanoparticles is essential for its biomedical applications. We demonstrate an effective procedure of transferring the bare iron oxide (Fe3O4) magnetic nanoparticle (BMNPs) into aqueous medium using mixed micelles comprising sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and aniline hydrochloride (AHC). Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) studies confirmed that SDS–AHC mixture form rod like or worm like micelles of hydrodynamic diameter of about 9 nm. However, the hydrodynamic diameter of the micelle stabilized Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (MMNPs) is about 120 nm and they showed long-term aqueous stability. Further, they possess surface charge of −31 mV which is conducive for colloidal stability MMNPs at physiological medium. These MMNPs have high loading affinity towards hydrophobic anticancer drug, curcumin (encapsulation efficiency of 58% at curcumin concentration of 0.25 mg/ml) and ability to deliver them in pH responsive manner. They exhibited substantial cellular uptake in breast cancer (MCF-7) cells and have good heating efficiency under AC magnetic field for hyperthermia therapy. Specifically, we have developed micellar stabilized Fe3O4 nanoparticles and investigated their applications in hyperthermia and delivery of hydrophobic anticancer drug.