Iron oxide nanoparticles: Magnetic and biological properties

Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) are a class of inorganic metal oxide nanoparticles. Because IONPs have nanomedicine-desired features in biocompatibility, safety, and cost-effective preparation, various forms of IONPs are widely used in life sciences and biomedical applications, including magnetic separation and purification, biosensing, image contrast enhancing, drug delivery, and iron-based therapies. This article provides an overview of current approaches toward synthesis and functionalization of bio-application-inspired IONPs with different sizes, shapes, and surfaces. General properties and functions of IONPs that are important to unique physiological and pharmacological behaviors and biomedical applications will also be discussed and demonstrated with several examples.