Impact of polyethylene glycol on the thermal properties of PVA-Fe2.5Mn0.5O4-PEG ferrogels and its potential application in hyperthermia therapy

Cancer is currently one of the most lethal diseases, and numerous studies have been conducted to develop effective treatments. One such treatment involves hyperthermia therapy, which is performed by applying heat to cancer cells at approximately 113 °F (45 °C). There are several methods for performing hyperthermia therapy, including a method that utilizes ferrogel. The present study focuses on the thermal study of ferrogel with Fe_2.5Mn_0.5O₄-PEG magnetic filler and PVA hydrogel matrix. The Fe_2.5Mn_0.5O₄-PEG filler was synthesized by coprecipitation method, and ferrogels were prepared by freezing-thawing method, which was repeated up to five times. The characterization of Fe_2.5Mn_0.5O₄-PEG powder was performed using XRD, FTIR, UV-VIS, TEM, and SAXS, respectively, to ascertain the particle size, functional groups, bandgap, morphology, and particle size distribution. Concurrently, the ferrogel was subjected to a magnetothermal test to determine the SAR value. The XRD characterization results revealed the presence of pure Fe₃O₄ phase in the form of cubic structure with particle sizes ranging from 3.43 nm to 5.64 nm. These results were corroborated by TEM and SAXS characterization, which revealed a particle size distribution of approximately 3–6 nm. Furthermore, the FTIR characterization results indicated the presence of primary functional groups on tetrahedral and octahedral sites. UV-VIS characterization results of FM1-FM4 yielded an average bandgap value of 2.1 eV. Magnetothermal characterization of PVA-Fe_2.5Mn_0.5O₄-PEG 6000 ferrogel revealed that the sample exhibited the highest SAR value at a 5% filler concentration, with a value of 7.351 W/g.