Synthesis and Characterization of Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4@mSiO2 Core Shell Nanocarrier for Drug Delivery Applications

Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4@mesoporousSiO(2) (NZF@mSiO(2)) core shell nanocarrier was synthesized by sol-gel method using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and characterized for different physicochemical properties. The structural and morphological properties were studied by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) techniques. XRD pattern and TEM micrographs confirm the coexistence of Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 and SiO2 phases in the nanocomposites. Average crystallite size of Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 NPs was found to be around similar to 21 nm. Particles size of NZF@mSiO(2) measured by TEM and FESEM are found to be similar to 200-400 nm. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) results confirm successful formation of NZF@mSiO(2) core shell nanocomposites having well symmetric structure and ellipsoidal shape. HRTEM analysis confirmed the presence of pores (5-10 nm) on the surface of SiO2 nanosphere. Magnetic properties of NZF@mSiO(2) nanocarriers were studied by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) technique. NZF@mSiO(2) nanocarriers were found to be super-paramagnetic in nature with negligible coercivity and remanent magnetization. The M-s value for NZF@mSiO(2) was found to be 9.5 emu/gm.