Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 17, 2026
Using Magnetometry to Monitor Cellular Incorporation and Subsequent Biodegradation of Chemically Synthetized Iron Oxide Nanoparticles
Published on: February 27, 2021
Synthesis and cellular internalization of spindle hematite/polymer hybrid nanoparticles
Jing Wang1, Wen Zhu, Lixin Liu
1Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, The Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100190, China.
Abstract:
Nonspherical spindle-shaped hematite/polymer hybrid nanoparticles (SPNPs) were synthesized via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). The long axis of the SPNPs was 370 ± 65 nm, and the short axis was 80 ± 15 nm with an aspect ratio of 4.6-4.7. The SPNPs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to estimate the content of grafted polymer. Light-scattering measurement was used to detect the particle size distribution of SPNPs in water and in cell culture medium. HeLa cells internalized the SPNPs within 1 h, and the uptake reached equilibrium in 8 h. These observations contribute to better understanding of the interactions between nonspherical nanoparticles and cells, which may have implication for designing drug delivery vehicles.
