Fe3O4-ZnO Core-Shell Nanoparticles Fabricated by Ultra-Thin Atomic Layer Deposition Technique as a Drug Delivery Vehicle

Abstract

Fe3O4-ZnO nanoparticles with core-shell structures were successfully fabricated by an atomic layer deposition method. The core-shell NPs consisted of superparamagnetic Fe3O4 cores of 100nm average size and conformal ZnO shells of 10nm thickness. The NPs showed a saturation magnetization of 23emu/g, which is suitable for magnetic delivery of the particles. Cytotoxicity testing revealed that the Fe3O4-ZnO NPs have high cell viability (over 90%) after 24h culture. Also, they exhibited a high ibuprofen-loading capacity (640g per mg of the particles) and good release ability (>90% after 72h in simulated body fluid). As a result, the Fe3O4-ZnO nanoparticles with conformal ultra-thin ZnO shell layers are anticipated as promising drug delivery vehicles with acceptable cell viability and high drug loading-release abilities.