Silica-coated gadolinium-doped lanthanum strontium manganite nanoparticles for self-controlled hyperthermia applications

Gadolinium-doped lanthanum strontium manganite (LSM) nanoparticles were synthesized by using a citrate-gel technique. The particles were then annealed at 850 oC to remove defects for a good crystallinity, followed by coating with silica for possible biomedical application to magnetic hyperthermia. The chemical composition was determined to be La0.54Sr0.27Gd0.19MnO3 using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. The nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer to check the perovskite crystalline structure and to observe the particles size and coating status of silica on the surface of the particles. The Curie temperature of the particles was found to be about 280 K. The saturation temperature of the aqueous solution of the particles remained at the hyperthermia target temperature of 42 oC with increasing concentration of particles from 6 to 60 mg/mL in the dispersion. This saturation temperature for a highly concentrated 120-mg/mL-sample increased further, but less than the dangerous temperature of 47 oC for normal tissues. The saturation temperature of the powder sample reached only up to 53 oC. These results showed that the gadolinium-doped LSM nanoparticles can be used for the self-controlled hyperthermia in which the temperature does not exceed the target temperature of hyperthermia even at the tissue site of highly accumulated nanoparticles