Short communication – Electrochemical preparation and characterization of magnetic core–shell nanowires for biomedical applications

•Electrochemical procedure for magnetic CoNi@Au nanorod preparation•Electrochemical test of complete Au layer formation•Good functionalization of the nanorods for stability in solution and biocompatibility•Proposal of electrochemical test of the functionalization•New promising magnetic vehicles for biomedical application

Magnetic CoNi@Au core–shell nanorods have been electrochemically synthesized, characterized and functionalized to test their inherent cytotoxicity in order to assess their potential use for biomedical applications. The initially electrodeposited CoNi nanorods have been covered with a gold layer by means of galvanic displacement to minimize the nanowires toxicity and their aggregation, and favour the functionalization. The presence of a gold layer on the nanorod surface slightly modifies the magnetic behaviour of the as-deposited nanorods, maintaining their soft-magnetic behaviour and high magnetization of saturation. The complete covering of the nanorods with the gold shell favours a good functionalization with a layer of (11-Mercaptoundecyl)hexa(ethylene glycol) molecules, in order to create a hydrophilic coating to avoid the aggregation of nanorods, keeping them in suspension and give them stability in biological media. The presence of the organic layer incorporated was detected by means of electrochemical probe experiments. A cytotoxicity test of functionalized core–shell nanorods, carried out with adherent HeLa cells, showed that cell viability was higher than 80% for amounts of nanorods up to 10 μg mL− 1. These results make functionalized nanorods promising vehicles for targeted drug delivery in medicine, which gives a complementary property to the magnetic nanoparticles.

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