Thermal decomposition synthesis and assessment of effects on blood cells and in vivo damages of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles

In the search to reduce the side effects, toxicity and assuring the desired effectiveness of the drugs, many efforts has been made to improve specific drugs' delivery characteristics. Several carrier nanoparticles have been used to assist the drugs incorporation, absorption and transport through the bloodstream. However, most chemical synthesis routes are multistep and time-consuming treatments and, also, many carrier nanoparticles have toxic effects. In this work, we report a simple one-pot approach for the synthesis of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles (20 to 100 nm). The magnetic measurements revealed nanoparticles with a magnetic saturation nearly one third of that for bulk CoFe2O4. In vitro assays showed no hemolytic potential and negligible toxicity. By in vivo experiments using adult male mice we found no potential risk alterations by the nanoparticles administration. Therefore, the CoFe2O4 nanoparticles, synthesized by the current approach, can be a model drug-carrier, which makes them useful for the biomedical applications.