Synthesis and encapsulation of iron oxide nanorods for application in magnetic hyperthermia and photothermal therapy

Abstract

The synthesis, characterization, and applications of iron oxide nanorods have received attention in recent years. Even though there are several studies on the biological applications of iron oxide nanoparticles, recent studies have shown that rod-shaped iron oxides are effective in magnetic hyperthermia (MHT) as therapeutic technique to treat cancer. This review focused on the synthesis and encapsulation of magnetic iron oxide nanorods (MIONRs) and their use in (MHT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) for cancer cells. Among the synthetic methods that have been used to prepare MIONRs, some could be used to precisely control the particle size of the as-prepared magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONs), while others could be used to prepare monodisperse particles with uniform size distributions. Some of the results presented in this review showed that magnetic oxide nanorods are more potent in MHT than polyhedral-shaped MIONs. The review shows that mixtures of polyhedral- and rod-shaped MIONs resulted in 59 and 77% cell death, while monodisperse MIONRs resulted in 95% cell death. It could thus be concluded that, for magnetic iron oxide to be effective in MHT and PTT, it is important to prepare monodisperse magnetic oxide nanorods.

Keywords

• encapsulation
• iron oxide nanorods
• magnetic hyperthermia
• photothermal therapy