Shape-controlled fabrication of magnetite silver hybrid nanoparticles with high performance magnetic hyperthermia

Superparamagnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (NPs)-based hyperthermia is a promising non-invasive approach for cancer therapy. However, the heat transfer efficiency of Fe₃O₄ NPs is relative low, which hinders their practical clinical applications. Therefore, it is promising to improve the magnetic hyperthermia efficiency by exploring the higher performance magnetic NPs-based hybrid nanostructures. In the current study, it presents a straightforward in situ reduction method for the shape-controlled preparation of magnetite (Fe₃O₄) silver (Ag) hybrid NPs designed as magnetic hyperthermia heat mediators. The magnetite silver hybrid NPs with core-shell (Fe₃O₄@Ag) or heteromer (Fe₃O₄-Ag) structures exhibited a higher biocompatibility with SMMC-7721 cells and L02 cells than the individual Ag NPs. Importantly, in the magnetic hyperthermia, with the exposure to alternating current magnetic field, the Fe₃O₄@Ag and Fe₃O₄-Ag hybrid NPs indicated much better tumor suppression effect against SMMC-7721 cells than the individual Fe₃O₄ NPs in vitro and in vivo. These results demonstrate that the hybridisation of Fe₃O₄ and Ag NPs could greatly enhance the magnetic hyperthermia efficiency of Fe₃O₄ NPs. Therefore, the Fe₃O₄@Ag and Fe₃O₄-Ag hybrid NPs can be used to be as high performance magnetic hyperthermia mediators based on a simple and effective preparation approach.