Enhancement of induction heating capability of bioactive SiO2–CaO–Na2O–P2O5 glass-ceramics by selective substitution with magnetite nanoparticles

Magnetic bioactive glass-ceramics with compositions of 37SiO2–24.5CaO–24.5Na2O–6P2O5–8Fe3O4 (MGCS), 45SiO2–16.5CaO–24.5Na2O–6P2O5–8Fe3O4 (MGCC) and 45SiO2–24.5CaO–16.5Na2O–6P2O5–8Fe3O4 (MGCN) were synthesized by sol–gel route. These compositions were derived by substituting 8 wt.% magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles for SiO2, CaO and Na2O, respectively, in the bioactive glass-ceramic of composition 45SiO2–24.5CaO–24.5Na2O–6P2O5. The sol–gel derived powders were heat treated at 550 °C for 1 h to ensure optimal amounts of magnetite, combeite and sodium nitrate phases. All the heat treated samples were found to be magnetic, bioactive and non-toxic to MG-63 osteoblast cells. However, the induction heating response of MGCC was better than that of MGCS and MGCN. Notably, MGCC outperformed the commercially available ferrofluid FluidMag-CT, thereby establishing itself as a superior thermoseed for magnetic hyperthermia treatment of cancer.