Zinc doped magnesium ferrite nanoparticles for evaluation of biological properties viz antimicrobial, biocompatibility, and in vitro cytotoxicity

In this study, the Zinc doped Magnesium ferrite (ZnxMg(1-x)Fe2O4 for x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1) nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized via sol-gel route reported previously, are now explored further with its structural, optical, morphological, and biological properties for biomedical applications. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) images revealed the planes corresponding to the d-spacing by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns described the plane's information. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of ferrite NPs depicted the near-spherical and dumbbell-shaped morphology with an average 40-45 nm particle size. The elemental mapping through high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HADAAF) reflected no extra peaks in the ferrite samples. The Raman spectroscopy revealed that only desired phases are present in the samples. All samples display a standard band at approximately 479 cm(-1) that corresponds to the presence of the Fe-O band. The Zn-Mg ferrite's ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy showed that all the samples are in the visible range. No significant changes were observed in the red blood cell (RBC) count and haemolysis when human RBCs were cultured with ferrite NPs. The 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)- 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) showed the biocompatibility of ZnxMg(1-x)Fe2O4 NPs except for Zn0.4Mg0.6Fe2O4 (50 and 100 mu g/ml). Some of the nanocomposites (NCs) were found to be cytotoxic against liver cancer (HepG2) cells (Zn0.2Mg0.8Fe2O4, Zn0.8Mg0.2Fe2O4, and ZnFe2O4) and breast cancer (MCF-7) cells (all except ZnFe2O4) The antimicrobial activity of these NPs was also observed against Escherichia (E) coli and Staphylococcus (S) aureus at x = 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1 combination. The excellent structural optical and biological properties of Zn doped Mg ferrite NPs can be possible potential for biomedical application