Magnetic properties study of iron-oxide nanoparticles/PVA ferrogels with potential biomedical applications

Abstract

A study of the magnetic behavior of maghemite nanoparticles (NPs) in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer matrices prepared by physical cross-linking is reported. The magnetic nanocomposites (ferrogels) were obtained by the in situ co-precipitation of iron salts in the presence of PVA polymer, and subsequently subjected to freezing-thawing cycles. The magnetic behavior of these ferrogels was compared with that of similar systems synthesized using the glutaraldehyde. This type of chemical cross-linking agents presents several disadvantages due to the presence of residual toxic molecules in the gel, which are undesirable for biological applications. Characteristic particle size determined by several techniques are in the range 7.9-9.3 nm. The iron oxidation state in the NPs was studied by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Mössbauer measurements showed that the NP magnetic moments present collective magnetic excitations and superparamagnetic relaxations. The blocking and irreversibility temperatures of the NPs in the ferrogels, and the magnetic anisotropy constant, were obtained from magnetic measurements. An empirical model including two magnetic contributions (large NPs slightly departed from thermodynamic equilibrium below 200 K, and small NPs at thermodynamic equilibrium) was used to fit the experimental magnetization curves. A deviation from the superparamagnetic regime was observed. This deviation was explained on the basis of an interacting superparamagnetic model. From this model, relevant magnetic and structural properties were obtained, such as the magnitude order of the dipolar interaction energy, the NPs magnetic moment, and the number of NPs per ferrogel mass unit. This study contributes to the understanding of the basic physics of a new class of materials that could emerge from the PVA-based magnetic ferrogels.