Zinc 2 acetylacetonate

The Zn ferrites were synthesized through thermal decomposition of a mixture of metal acetylacetonates with surfactants in a high-boiling point organic solvent. Briefly, iron (III) acetylacetonate (1.5 mmol) (Merck Schuchardt OHG, Hohenbrunn, Germany), zinc (II) acetylacetonate (2.25 mmol) (Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany), oleic acid (3.8 mmol) (Sigma-Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany), and 10 mL benzyl ether (Sigma-Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany) were mixed and magnetically stirred under a flow of nitrogen. The mixture was placed in a 50 mL three-neck, round-bottom flask and heated to 300 °C, at a ramping rate of 5 °C/min, under a continuous flow of nitrogen. The mixture was kept at reflux for 30 min and then cooled down to room temperature by removing the heat source. The Zn ferrites were separated by a neodymium magnet and washed in a mixture of hexane (Honeywell, Seelze, Germany)–ethanol (Chemical, Iasi, Romania) (1:1, v/v) five times. Finally, the as-synthesized Zn ferrites were dispersed in a volume of hexane at a concentration of 10 mg_MNPs/mL and stored in a glass container.

The synthesis of Zn ferrites has been done using the following chemicals: iron (III) acetylacetonate (≥98.00%, Merck Schuchardt OHG, Hohenbrunn, Germany), zinc (II) acetylacetonate (≥98.00%, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany), oleic acid (Sigma-Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany), tetra ethylene glycol (Carl-Roth, Karlsruhe, Germany, ≥99%) and benzyl ether (Sigma-Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany). The following lipids have been used in the preparation of TsMLs: 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) (Lipoid, Ludwigshafen, Germany), 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DSPC) (Lipoid, Ludwigshafen, Germany), and cholesterol (Sigma-Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany). Additional chemicals used in the study were ethanol (Chemical, Iasi, Romania), hexane (Honeywell, Seelze, Germany), cyclohexane (Honeywell, Seelze, Germany), sodium periodate (Sigma-Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany), acetonitrile (Sigma-Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany), ethyl acetate (Chemical, Iasi, Romania), chloroform (Chemical, Iasi, Romania), ammonium sulfate (Sigma-Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany), doxorubicin hydrochloride (Sigma-Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany) and Osmium tetroxide (Merck Schuchardt OHG, Hohenbrunn, Germany)