Inhibition of Neuroblastoma cancer cells viability by ferromagnetic Mn doped CeO2 monodisperse nanoparticles mediated through reactive oxygen species

• Mn doped CeO2 nanoparticles with cubic fluorite structure were synthesized.
• Mn dopant significantly tailored the band gap of CeO2 nanoparticles.
• The synthesized nanoparticles exhibited room temperature ferromagnetic behavior.
• The cytotoxicity of these nanoparticles was reported for the first time.
• The synthesized nanoparticles exhibited differential cytotoxicity.

Here we report the Mn doping induced effects on structural, Raman, optical, magnetic and anticancer properties of CeO2 nanoparticles prepared via soft chemical route. Structural and microstructural results infer that the synthesized nanoparticles have single phase cubic fluorite structure of CeO2 and that Mn doping results in enhancement of the structural defects. Scanning electron microscopy results reveal the formation of monodisperse nanoparticles having average particle size ranging from 30 to 41 nm. The optical absorbance spectroscopy analysis discloses the band gap energy tailoring of CeO2 nanoparticles via Mn doping. Room temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) has been found in both as-prepared and Mn doped CeO2 nanoparticles. This RTFM of the synthesized nanoparticles have been attributed to the Mn ions and surface defects such as oxygen vacancies. Finally, the influence of Mn dopant on the cell viability and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation levels of CeO2 nanoparticles in the presence of healthy and cancerous cells have been studied. It has been observed that the differential cytotoxicity of the synthesized nanoparticles is strongly correlated with level of ROS generation.