Development and characterization of magnetic-based biodegradable periodic mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles for enhanced biomedical applications

Herein, magnetic-based biodegradable periodic mesoporous organosilica (BPMO) nanoparticles were successfully synthesized via a co-precipitation method to form a magnetic iron oxide (FeO) core, followed by the condensation of organosilica precursors to produce BPMO shells. The physicochemical properties of the resulting hybrid nanoparticles were evaluated using powder X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometry. The synthesized particles exhibited a spherical morphology with an average diameter of approximately 250 nm. A core–shell structure was formed by depositing a 100-nm biodegradable organosilica layer onto the magnetic FeO cluster, endowing the nanoparticles with both magnetic and biodegradable mesoporous characteristics. Notably, despite the silica coating, the saturation magnetization remained high, reaching 35.8 emu/g, suggesting the potential for using these nanoparticles in magnetic-based biomedical applications. Furthermore, FeO@BPMO nanoparticles were demonstrated to be efficiently uptaken by OVCAR8 ovarian cancer cells and spheroids, indicating that these nanoparticles are promising as magnetic nanocarriers for anti-cancer drug delivery and can be used in magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic hyperthermia.