Synthesis and Functional Characterization of Co<sub>x</sub>Fe<sub>3−x</sub>O<sub>4</sub>-BaTiO<sub>3</sub> Magnetoelectric Nanocomposites for Biomedical Applications
Timur R. Nizamov,
Abdulkarim A. Amirov,
Tatiana O. Kuznetsova,
Irina V. Dorofievich,
Igor G. Bordyuzhin,
Dmitry G. Zhukov,
Anna V. Ivanova,
Anna N. Gabashvili,
Nataliya Yu. Tabachkova,
Alexander A. Tepanov,
Igor V. Shchetinin,
Maxim A. Abakumov,
Alexander G. Savchenko,
Alexander G. Majouga
Affiliations
Timur R. Nizamov
Department of Physical Materials Science, National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”, 119049 Moscow, Russia
Abdulkarim A. Amirov
Amirkhanov Institute of Physics of Dagestan Federal Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, 367003 Makhachkala, Russia
Tatiana O. Kuznetsova
Department of Physical Materials Science, National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”, 119049 Moscow, Russia
Irina V. Dorofievich
Department of Physical Materials Science, National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”, 119049 Moscow, Russia
Igor G. Bordyuzhin
Department of Physical Materials Science, National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”, 119049 Moscow, Russia
Dmitry G. Zhukov
Department of Physical Materials Science, National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”, 119049 Moscow, Russia
Anna V. Ivanova
Department of Physical Materials Science, National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”, 119049 Moscow, Russia
Anna N. Gabashvili
Department of Physical Materials Science, National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”, 119049 Moscow, Russia
Nataliya Yu. Tabachkova
Department of Materials Science of Semiconductors and Dielectrics, National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”, 119049 Moscow, Russia
Alexander A. Tepanov
Chemistry Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia
Igor V. Shchetinin
Department of Physical Materials Science, National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”, 119049 Moscow, Russia
Maxim A. Abakumov
Department of Physical Materials Science, National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”, 119049 Moscow, Russia
Alexander G. Savchenko
Department of Physical Materials Science, National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”, 119049 Moscow, Russia
Alexander G. Majouga
Department of Physical Materials Science, National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”, 119049 Moscow, Russia
Nowadays, magnetoelectric nanomaterials are on their way to finding wide applications in biomedicine for various cancer and neurological disease treatment, which is mainly restricted by their relatively high toxicity and complex synthesis. This study for the first time reports novel magnetoelectric nanocomposites of CoxFe3−xO4-BaTiO3 series with tuned magnetic phase structures, which were synthesized via a two-step chemical approach in polyol media. The magnetic CoxFe3−xO4 phases with x = 0.0, 0.5, and 1.0 were obtained by thermal decomposition in triethylene glycol media. The magnetoelectric nanocomposites were synthesized by the decomposition of barium titanate precursors in the presence of a magnetic phase under solvothermal conditions and subsequent annealing at 700 °C. X-ray diffraction revealed the presence of both spinel and perovskite phases after annealing with average crystallite sizes in the range of 9.0–14.5 nm. Transmission electron microscopy data showed two-phase composite nanostructures consisting of ferrites and barium titanate. The presence of interfacial connections between magnetic and ferroelectric phases was confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Magnetization data showed expected ferrimagnetic behavior and σs decrease after the nanocomposite formation. Magnetoelectric coefficient measurements after the annealing showed non-linear change with a maximum of 89 mV/cm*Oe with x = 0.5, 74 mV/cm*Oe with x = 0, and a minimum of 50 mV/cm*Oe with x = 0.0 core composition, that corresponds with the coercive force of the nanocomposites: 240 Oe, 89 Oe and 36 Oe, respectively. The obtained nanocomposites show low toxicity in the whole studied concentration range of 25–400 μg/mL on CT-26 cancer cells. The synthesized nanocomposites show low cytotoxicity and high magnetoelectric effects, therefore they can find wide applications in biomedicine.
