Enhanced magnetic hyperthermia performance in thermal plasma synthesized MnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles

Spherical manganese ferrite (MnFe₂O₄) nanoparticles (MFNPs) were synthesized by thermal plasma route for the first time. To check the efficiency of the developed MFNPs as magnetic hyperthermia agents, induction heating study was performed under an AC magnetic field (4 kA/m amplitude and 375 kHz frequency). The results demonstrated temperature increase to 50 °C within 2 s for bare MFNPs and 5 s for water dispersion of MFNPs. The specific absorption rate (SAR) of the MFNPs was found to be 403.78 Wg⁻¹ and 546.1 Wg⁻¹ using linear data fitting and Box-Lucas fitting methods respectively. These results were superior to those in the preceding reports using MFNPs as magnetic hyperthermia agents. Cytotoxicity assay on B16–F1 epithelial cells and A549 adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial cells proved high cell-viability of the synthesized MFNPs. Hence, our research demonstrated a thermal plasma-based synthesis of reproducible, and biocompatible MFNPs with superior performance which will improve accuracy and reduce side effects during targeted cancer treatment.