Synthesis, characterisation and biofunctionalisation of magnetoelectric nanoparticles for biomedical application

用于生物医学应用的磁电纳米颗粒的合成、表征和生物功能化

• 批准号: 2435153
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2435153
• 关键词: Synthesis; characterisation; biofunctionalisation; magnetoelectric; nanoparticles

Magnetoelectric nanoparticles (MENP) are nanoparticles that can exhibit ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity simultaneously. The coupling between the two properties is significant because it facilitates a direct control of ferroelectricity or ferromagnetism. Although, there are several ways of achieving magnetoelectric effect, combining a ferromagnetic material with a ferroelectric material in a core-shell nanostructure has gained significant interest in recent years due to large magnetoelectric effects. The magnetic nanoparticle used in this study will be cobalt ferrite due to its high magneto strictive coefficient and the ferroelectric phase will be barium titanate due to its high piezoelectric coefficient.The synthesis of monodisperse MENP and control of its size and morphology is of vital importance in biomedical application as the properties of nanoparticles are dependent on these variables. The hydrodynamic size of nanoparticles affects factors such as nanoparticle concentration profile in a blood vessel, affects nanoparticle clearance from circulation, and affects the permeability of nanoparticles out of the vasculature. Similarly, the shape affects nanoparticles circulating time with anisotropic NP like rod shape NP with higher aspect ratio having longer circulation time and higher bioavailability compared to spherical nanoparticles. Furthermore, in the case of MENP, it is also the coupling between the magnetic and electric phases that is dependent on size and morphology. As MENP for biomedical application is a recently emerging field, the current roadblock in the advancement of MENP is the controlled synthesis of MENP with tuneable size and morphology that can also be reproducible. Along with the synthesis, characterisation of MENP is vital to evaluate their properties. Techniques such as X-ray Diffraction for purity analysis, Transmission Emission Microscopy for size and morphology analysis, Dynamic Light Scattering for hydrodynamic size study, Infrared Spectroscopy for surface composition study, Superconducting Quantum Interference Device for magnetic properties, a modified Scanning Probe Microscope for magnetoelectric characterisation among others will be utilised in my research. Finally, the synthesised MENP will be functionalised for specific biomedical application. To conclude, my research focuses on studying the shape and size effect of MENP on the coupling of electric and magnetic phases at the interface and its new functionalities for biomedical applications such as targeted drug delivery.

磁电纳米粒子（MENP）是一种同时具有铁磁性和铁电性的纳米粒子。这两种性质之间的耦合是重要的，因为它有助于直接控制铁电性或铁磁性。虽然实现磁电效应的方法有很多种，但由于磁电效应大，近年来将铁磁材料与铁电材料结合在核壳纳米结构中已经引起了人们的极大兴趣。由于高磁致伸缩系数，本研究中使用的磁性纳米颗粒将是钴铁氧体，铁电相将是钛酸钡，因为它具有高压电系数。单分散MENP的合成及其尺寸和形态的控制在生物医学应用中至关重要，因为纳米颗粒的性能取决于这些变量。纳米颗粒的流体动力学大小影响诸如纳米颗粒在血管中的浓度分布，影响纳米颗粒在循环中的清除，以及影响纳米颗粒在血管外的渗透性等因素。同样，形状对各向异性NP的循环时间也有影响，如高长宽比的棒状NP比球形纳米粒子具有更长的循环时间和更高的生物利用度。此外，在MENP的情况下，磁相和电相之间的耦合也取决于尺寸和形态。由于MENP在生物医学领域的应用是一个新兴的领域，目前MENP发展的障碍是具有可调谐尺寸和形态且可重复的MENP的可控合成。随着MENP的合成，表征对评价其性能至关重要。诸如用于纯度分析的x射线衍射、用于尺寸和形貌分析的透射发射显微镜、用于流体动力学尺寸研究的动态光散射、用于表面成分研究的红外光谱、用于磁性能的超导量子干涉装置、用于磁电特性表征的改良扫描探针显微镜等技术将在我的研究中使用。最后，合成的MENP将被功能化，用于特定的生物医学应用。综上所述，我的研究重点是研究MENP的形状和大小对界面上电相和磁相耦合的影响，以及它在生物医学应用中的新功能，如靶向药物输送。