Synthesis and Evaluation of Thermo-Sensitive, Magnetic Fluorescent Nanocomposite as Trifunctional Drug Delivery Carrier

The thermo-sensitive magnetic fluorescent trifunctional nanocomposite (Fe3O4/ZnS@PNIPAM) has been synthesized via a facile route. The obtained biocompatible nanocomposite was composed of monodisperse heterostructural Fe3O4/ZnS core and a thermo-sensitive poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM) shell. Fe3O4/ZnS acted as magnetic response and fluorescence luminous body, PNIPAM acted as drug loaded platform which can adsorb and release drug controllably. Fe3O4/ZnS@PNIPAM was characterized and all of the results showed that it had excellent magnetic response, photostability and thermo-sensitivity. Moreover, the drug release studies in vitro showed that the release rate increased with increasing temperature. MTT assays in model HepG2 cells demonstrated that Fe3O4/ZnS@PNIPAM was practically non-toxic. Thus, our results revealed that Fe3O4/ZnS@PNIPAM would be used in biomedical fields such as targeted drug delivery, as well as cancer diagnosis and treatment in the nearly future.