Toxicity and energy storage properties of magnesium oxide doped cobalt ferrite nanocomposites for biomedical applications

Abstract

In this study, cobalt ferrite and magnesium oxide nanoparticles were synthesized by co-precipitation and sol-gel methods, respectively. Magnesium oxide doped cobalt ferrite nanocomposites were prepared by mixing powder forms of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles with 10% and 25% in weight MgO powders. The SEM and XRD analyses revealed that pure spinel ferrite structure and single phase magnesium oxide nanoparticles without impurities are obtained. The structural analyses also approved the formation of both phases coexisting in the nanocomposite with homogenous distribution in nanometer particle sizes. In vitro cytotoxic effects of the samples with several concentrations on L929 mouse fibroblast cells were investigated. It is seen that cobalt ferrite nanoparticles increased cell viability in all concentrations and the cell viability of nanocomposites also has been observed as over 95%. Additionally, the energy storage ability of the nanocomposites is performed by frequency-dependent admittance measurements in 5 Hz-13 MHz frequency ranges. It is seen that the addition of magnesium oxide content reduced the complex dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the cobalt ferrite-based nanocomposites effectively. The results showed that magnesium oxide-doped cobalt ferrite nanocomposites sustain nontoxic behavior for biomedical applications in addition to their adjustable dielectric parameters.