Structural, magnetic, and biocompatibility evaluations of chromium substituted barium hexaferrite (Co2–Y) for hyperthermia application

In the present work, chromium-substituted cobalt-based Y-type barium hexaferrite ceramics having a general formula of Ba2Co2Fe12-xCrxO22 (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5) have been studied to evaluate its potential candidacy as an optional replacement for various soft ferrite materials in the field of magnetic hyperthermia. The as-obtained ferrite powders are characterized for structural, magnetic, and morphological properties after being calcined at 1200 °C for 2 h. The structural parameters confirm single-phase nanocrystalline Y-type barium hexaferrite formation within all the samples. The room temperature magnetic parameter, i.e., saturation magnetization (Ms), is found to decrease (from 39.07 to 33.50 emu/g), and the coercive field (Hc) is increased (86.87–281.84 Oe) consistently. Later, oleic acid-coated ferrite samples' heating capability is governed within the applied AC magnetic field (25 mT at a frequency of 114.1 kHz) in terms of specific absorption rate (SAR) using time-dependent temperature performance. The superiority of the sample having the greatest SAR value (84.39 w/g for Ba2Co2Fe11.7Cr0.3O22) is interrelated with the particles' geometry, size distribution, magnetic parameters, and surface chemistry obtained from the XPS analysis. This sample is further analyzed for its biocompatibility performance against the MG-63 cell line; the results indicate that it may be a potential candidate for magnetic hyperthermia due to its significant SAR & ILP value along with better biocompatibility.