Synthesis and investigation of structural, optical, magnetic, and biocompatibility properties of nanoferrites AFeO2

Sol-gel method has been used for the synthesis of biocompatible superparamagnetic nanoferrites of AFeO2 (A = Li, Na, K, Ca). Structural study of the nanoferrites reveals that LiFeO2 exhibits cubic phase on the other hand NaFeO2, KFeO2, CaFeO2 nanoparticles possess orthorhombic phase. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) suggests that synthesized nanoferrites are nano-sized with spherical morphology. Optical properties confirm that nanoferrites emit and absorb light in a visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. International Commission on Illumination (CIE) study discloses that the nanoparticles can be used to produce light of various colors. Magnetic study reveals that the nanoferrites exhibit superparamagnetic nature with high values of saturation magnetization 40.26 emu/g, 41.69 emu/g, 57.16 emu/g, and 43.66 emu/g, respectively for LiFeO2, NaFeO2, KFeO2, and CaFeO2. Biocompatibility study of the nanoferrites has been performed using Sulforhodamine B (SRB) and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The reason behind the observed properties and behavior has been discussed.