Exploration of the potential of Co/Cu co-doped Fe 2 O 4 for medical applications: nanostructure, catalytic properties, and blood compatibility

Nano-sized metal oxides with magnetic properties are a group of scientifically valuable materials whose application areas are increasingly diverse. This study investigates the structural, morphological, magnetic, photocatalytic, and hemolytic properties of CoCuFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized by co-precipitation method. Photocatalytic and biological properties of the samples were investigated by following crystal violet (CV) photocatalytic degradation reactions and hemolysis experiments, respectively. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to analyze crystalline properties and morphological structure of nano-sized ferrites. Photocatalysis tests showed that CoCuFe 2 O 4 NPs degraded 64.9% of the total organic dye after 420-min exposure to 254 nm irradiation. Coercivity ( H c ) and saturation magnetization ( M s ) of CoCuFe 2 O 4 NPs were determined as 1000 Oe and 15.44 emu/g, respectively. Hemolysis tests showed an average hemolysis ratio (AHR) of 12.4% for human erythrocytes subjected to 5.0 mg mL −1 CoCuFe 2 O 4 concentration, while it was only 2.2% for those of exposed to 1.0 mg mL −1 CoCuFe 2 O 4 . In addition, at both CoCuFe 2 O 4 concentrations, spectrophotometric evidence was found indicating hemoglobin oxidation under the effect of reactive oxygen species (ROS) formed on the nanoparticle surface. Graphical Abstract