Fabrication and characterization of self-assembled zinc ferrite nanospheres for biomedical applications

Zinc ferrite nanospheres (ZFNS) were developed by a facile and cost-effective solvothermal technique. The surface morphology and structural properties of ZFNS were investigated by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy and BET surface area analysis. The magnetic along with luminescent properties of ZFNS were further examined using physical property measurement system (PPMS), UV–Vis and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The XRD pattern indicates that the sample is cubic spinel ferrite of the Fd3m space group, which was confirmed further by FTIR and Raman data. The average diameter of self-assembled ZFNS is found to be ~ 167 nm. BET result shows that the synthesized ZFNS possesses a specific surface area of 85.74 m2/g. Magnetic measurement shows its weak ferromagnetic nature having high saturation magnetization of 63.94 and 67.83 emu g−1 at 300 K and 10 K, respectively. An optical bandgap value of 2.1 eV along with photoluminescence property was observed. These physical and optical properties along with the negligible cytotoxic behaviour of ZFNS on breast cancer cells suggest its potentiality in various bio-medical applications.