Heterodimeric nanoparticles comprising materials with different functionalities are of great interest for fundamental research and biomedical/industrial applications. In this work, Fe3O4-Au nano-heterostructures were synthesized by a one-step thermal decomposition method. The hybrid nanoparticles comprise a highly crystalline 12 nm magnetite octahedron decorated with a single noble metal sphere of 6 nm diameter. Detailed analysis of the nanoparticles was performed by UV-visible spectroscopy, magnetometry, calorimetry and relaxometry studies. The cytotoxic effect of the nanoparticles in the human hepatic cell line Huh7 and PLC/PRF/5-Alexander was also assessed. These Fe3O4-Au bifunctional nanoparticles showed no significant cytotoxicity in these two cell lines. The nanoparticles showed a good theranostic potential for liver cancer treatment, since the r2 relaxivity (166.5 mM-1·s-1 and 99.5 mM-1·s-1 in water and HepG2 cells, respectively) is higher than the corresponding values for commercial T2 contrast agents and the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) value obtained (227 W/gFe) is enough to make them suitable as heat mediators for Magnetic Fluid Hyperthermia. The gold counterpart can further allow the conjugation with different biomolecules and the optical sensing.

Department of Chemistry Lomonosov Moscow State University 119991 Moscow Russia

Department of Medical Nanobiotechnology Russian National Research Medical University 117997 Moscow Russia

Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine 14021 Prague Czech Republic

Institute of Chemistry of Organometallic Compounds C N R 50019 Sesto Fiorentino Italy

Institute of Physics Mathematics and Information Technology Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University 236008 Kaliningrad Russia

Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences 18200 Prague Czech Republic

INSTM and Dept of Chemistry University of Florence 50019 Sesto Fiorentino Italy

Laboratory of Biomedical Nanomaterials National University of Science and Technology MISiS 119049 Moscow Russia

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