Synthesis and characterization of iron oxide derivatized mutant cowpea mosaic virus hybrid nanoparticles

Abstract

The enhanced local magnetic field strength was qualitatively analyzed by magnetic force microscopy (MFM), demonstrating a characteristic advantage for attaching derivatized magnetic iron oxide (IO) nanoparticles in an organic medium. the synthesis of 11 nm size IO nanoparticles was carried out under nitrogen atmosphere using standard schlenk technique. The biocompatible γ-Fe2O3-COOH nanoparticles were synthesized by thermal decomposition of Fe(CO)5 and surface modified. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to characterize structurally the as-synthesized IO nanoparticles on a silicon substrate. The histogram of the size distribution of the IO nanoparticles determined from 68 individual measurements on single IO nanoparticles exhibited a mean size of δ11 nm. MFM showed that the textured regions observed on each hybrid are indicative of IO nanoclusters decorating the surface of single virions.