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Tunable Hydroxyapatite/Magnetite Nanohybrids with Preserved Magnetic Properties

Abstract
Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been extensively investigated in a wide range of biomedical applications. Controlled coating of the MNPs is commonly utilized to protect and maintain their magnetic properties and to improve their biocompatibility, hydrophilicity, colloidal stability and overall biodistribution. Hydroxyapatite (HAp), a highly biocompatible material, is considered for the functionalization of MNPs. In this study, two simple chemical approaches are used to prepare nanohybrid MNPs-on-HAp and HAp-on-MNPs composites. The effect of heat treatment on the phase com-position, morphology, and magnetic properties of both types of magnetic composites is extensively evaluated. In the presence of HAp, MNPs are segregated onto their surfaces and their transformation to hematite upon heat treatment is delayed. On the other hand, needle-shaped HAp nano-crystallites preferentially grow onto the hydroxylated MNPs surfaces, leading to a synergistic enhancement in the magnetic properties of the produced nanocomposites, with preserved magnetic properties. Compared with a saturation magnetization (Ms) value of 80 emu gāˆ’1 of pure MNPs, a MNPs-on HAp nanohybrid shows a maximum of 14 emu gāˆ’1, while nanohybrids based on HAp-on-MNPs show Ms values in the range of 43–78 emu gāˆ’1. These findings demonstrate the ability to fine-tune the magnetic properties of the HAp/MNPs nano hybrids via optimizing their processing conditions.