Mar. Drugs 2012, 10(11), 2403-2414; doi:10.3390/md10112403
Article

Preparation and Characterization of Ferrofluid Stabilized with Biocompatible Chitosan and Dextran Sulfate Hybrid Biopolymer as a Potential Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) T2 Contrast Agent

Zei-Tsan Tsai 1 email, Fu-Yuan Tsai 2 email, Wei-Cheng Yang 3,4 email, Jen-Fei Wang 1 email, Chao-Lin Liu 5 email, Chia-Rui Shen 1,3,4 email and Tzu-Chen Yen 1,* email
1 Molecular Imaging Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, 5 Fu-Hsing Street, Kweishan, Tao-Yuan 33305, Taiwan 2 General Education Center, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen-Hwa 1st Road, Kweishan, Tao-Yuan 33302, Taiwan 3 Department of Medical Biotechnology and Laboratory Science, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen-Hwa 1st Road, Kweishan, Tao-Yuan 33302, Taiwan 4 Graduate Institute of Biomedical Science, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen-Hwa 1st Road, Kweishan, Tao-Yuan 33302, Taiwan 5 Department of Chemical Engineering and Graduate School of Biochemical Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, 84 Gung-Juan Road, Taishan, New Taipei 24301, Taiwan
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 21 September 2012; in revised form: 15 October 2012 / Accepted: 15 October 2012 / Published: 29 October 2012
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Abstract: Chitosan is the deacetylated form of chitin and used in numerous applications. Because it is a good dispersant for metal and/or oxide nanoparticle synthesis, chitosan and its derivatives have been utilized as coating agents for magnetic nanoparticles synthesis, including superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs). Herein, we demonstrate the water-soluble SPIONs encapsulated with a hybrid polymer composed of polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) from chitosan, the positively charged polymer, and dextran sulfate, the negatively charged polymer. The as-prepared hybrid ferrofluid, in which iron chloride salts (Fe3+ and Fe2+) were directly coprecipitated inside the hybrid polymeric matrices, was physic-chemically characterized. Its features include the z-average diameter of 114.3 nm, polydispersity index of 0.174, zeta potential of −41.5 mV and iron concentration of 8.44 mg Fe/mL. Moreover, based on the polymer chain persistence lengths, the anionic surface of the nanoparticles as well as the high R2/R1 ratio of 13.5, we depict the morphology of SPIONs as a cluster because chitosan chains are chemisorbed onto the anionic magnetite surfaces by tangling of the dextran sulfate. Finally, the cellular uptake and biocompatibility assays indicate that the hybrid polymer encapsulating the SPIONs exhibited great potential as a magnetic resonance imaging T2 contrast agent for cell tracking.
Keywords: biocompatible polymer; chitosan; superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle; nanomaterials

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Tsai, Z.-T.; Tsai, F.-Y.; Yang, W.-C.; Wang, J.-F.; Liu, C.-L.; Shen, C.-R.; Yen, T.-C. Preparation and Characterization of Ferrofluid Stabilized with Biocompatible Chitosan and Dextran Sulfate Hybrid Biopolymer as a Potential Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) T2 Contrast Agent. Mar. Drugs 2012, 10, 2403-2414.

AMA Style

Tsai Z-T, Tsai F-Y, Yang W-C, Wang J-F, Liu C-L, Shen C-R, Yen T-C. Preparation and Characterization of Ferrofluid Stabilized with Biocompatible Chitosan and Dextran Sulfate Hybrid Biopolymer as a Potential Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) T2 Contrast Agent. Marine Drugs. 2012; 10(11):2403-2414.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Tsai, Zei-Tsan; Tsai, Fu-Yuan; Yang, Wei-Cheng; Wang, Jen-Fei; Liu, Chao-Lin; Shen, Chia-Rui; Yen, Tzu-Chen. 2012. "Preparation and Characterization of Ferrofluid Stabilized with Biocompatible Chitosan and Dextran Sulfate Hybrid Biopolymer as a Potential Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) T2 Contrast Agent." Mar. Drugs 10, no. 11: 2403-2414.

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