Physical methods for the synthesis of MNPs

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are attracting increasing interest because of their wide applications such as magnetic hyperthermia, drug delivery, magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic biosensing, etc. In recent years iron oxide nanoparticles have been widely for these applications since they are stable and biocompatible. However, their saturation magnetization is relatively low. Thus, research interests focus on pursuing high magnetic moment, low biotoxicity, and inexpensive MNPs due to the increasing demands of high-sensitivity magnetic diagnosis and low-dose treatments. Many approaches to synthesizing MNPs have been developed. In this chapter, physical methods such as ball milling, lithography, gas-phase condensation, etc. will be investigated and reviewed including their advantages and disadvantages.