Aspartic Acid Stabilized Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications
Mihaela Răcuciu,
Lucian Barbu-Tudoran,
Simona Oancea,
Olga Drăghici,
Cezarina Morosanu,
Marian Grigoras,
Florin Brînză,
Dorina E. Creangă
Affiliations
Mihaela Răcuciu
Environmental Sciences and Physics Department, Faculty of Sciences, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, Dr. I. Ratiu Str., no. 5-7, 550012 Sibiu, Romania
Lucian Barbu-Tudoran
Electron Microscopy Integrated Laboratory, National Institute for R&D of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies, Donat Str., no. 67-103, 400293 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Simona Oancea
Agricultural Sciences and Food Engineering Department, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Dr. I. Ratiu Str., no. 7-9, 550012 Sibiu, Romania
Olga Drăghici
Agricultural Sciences and Food Engineering Department, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Dr. I. Ratiu Str., no. 7-9, 550012 Sibiu, Romania
Cezarina Morosanu
Biophysics and Medical Physics Laboratory, Faculty of Physics, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University, 11, Carol I Blvd., 700506 Iasi, Romania
Marian Grigoras
National Institute of Research and Development for Technical Physics, 47, Mangeron Blvd., 700050 Iasi, Romania
Florin Brînză
Biophysics and Medical Physics Laboratory, Faculty of Physics, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University, 11, Carol I Blvd., 700506 Iasi, Romania
Dorina E. Creangă
Biophysics and Medical Physics Laboratory, Faculty of Physics, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University, 11, Carol I Blvd., 700506 Iasi, Romania
Aspartic acid stabilized iron oxide nanoparticles (A-IONPs) with globular shape and narrow size distribution were prepared by the co-precipitation method in aqueous medium. A quantum-mechanical approach to aspartic acid optimized structure displayed negative charged sites, relatively high dipole moment, and hydrophilicity, which recommended it for interaction with iron cations and surrounding water electrical dipoles. A-IONPs were characterized by TEM, XRD, ATR-FTIR, EDS, DSC, TG, DLS, NTA, and VSM techniques. Theoretical study carried out by applying Hartree-Fock and density functional algorithms suggested that some aspartic acid properties related to the interaction can develop with nanoparticles and water molecules. The results of experimental investigation showed that the mean value of particle physical diameters was 9.17 ± 2.2 nm according to TEM image analysis, the crystallite size was about 8.9 nm according to XRD data, while the magnetic diameter was about 8.8 nm, as was determined from VSM data interpretation with Langevin’s theory. The A-IONP suspension was characterized by zeta-potential of about −11.7 mV, while the NTA investigation revealed a hydrodynamic diameter of 153.9 nm. These results recommend the A-IONP suspension for biomedical applications.
