The heating effect of iron-cobalt magnetic nanofluids in an alternating magnetic field: application in magnetic hyperthermia treatment

In this research, FeCo alloy magnetic nanofluids were prepared by reducing iron(III) chloride hexahydrate and cobalt(II) sulfate heptahydrate with sodium borohydride in a water/CTAB/hexanol reverse micelle system for application in magnetic hyperthermia treatment. X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, and energy-dispersive analysis indicate the formation of bcc-structured iron-cobalt alloy. Magnetic property assessment of nanoparticles reveals that some samples are single-domain superparamagnetic, while others are single- or multi-domain ferromagnetic. The stability of the magnetic fluids was achieved by using a CTAB/1-butanol surfactant bilayer. Results of Gouy magnetic susceptibility balance experiments indicate good stability of FeCo nanoparticles even after dilution. The inductive properties of corresponding magnetic fluids including temperature rise and specific absorption rate were determined. Results show that with increasing of the nanoparticle size in the single-domain size regime, the generated heat increases, indicating the significant effect of the hysteresis loss. Finally, the central parameter controlling the specific absorption rate of nanoparticles was introduced, the experimental results were compared with those of the Stoner-Wohlfarth model and linear response theory, and the best sample for magnetic hyperthermia treatment was specified.