Review of Magnetic Nanoparticles: From Synthesis and Design to Applications

Abstract

It is believed that among others, magnetic nanoparticles possess the ability for stability, biocompatibility, and cost-effectiveness in biomedicine. Despite many types of magnetic materials, including non-noble metals like iron, cobalt, and nickel, the potential applications seem not to have been as explored as with noble metals like gold. This review aimed to give a broad overview of magnetic nanoparticles, more so their synthesis, characterization, and various applications in disease detection, such as cancer diagnostics. This was a literature review design; the data were sourced from peer-reviewed articles published within the last ten years. The criteria for selecting studies included that they had to directly address magnetic nanoparticle synthesis, design, and application. For this purpose, databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Google scholar were tapped into to ensure the widest possible relevant coverage. Different approaches, such as chemical or mechanical ones, are used to create magnetic nanoparticles. The paper outlines the advantages of magnetic nanoparticles in the treatment of diseases. Furthermore, as most of the categorization techniques now in use are found to be inaccurate and unreliable, they have now shown certain flaws. Therefore, the use of magnetic nanoparticles in biomedical applications, especially in diagnosing and treating diseases, holds great promise. However, improvement in the methodology for the classification of nanoparticles is quite necessary. Such standard protocols for synthesizing and characterizing magnetic nanoparticles should be developed in the near future, with new therapeutic applications being explored in this domain.