Inset was the photographs of an aqueous solution of Fe3O4 particles without magnetic field and with the externally applied magnetic field. Conclusions In summary, a modified solvothermal approach was used to synthesize monodispersed Fe3O4 particles with the assistance of EDTA, which are composed of numerous primary Fe3O4 nanocrystals with sizes of

7 to 15 nm. Their sizes could be easily tuned over a wide range of 400 to 800 nm by simply varying the concentration of FeCl3 or EDTA. More importantly, owing to the presence of the carboxylate groups attached on the surface, the Fe3O4 particles have excellent water dispersibility and dispersing stability. In addition, the growth mechanism of the secondary structural Fe3O4 particles is discussed. The magnetite particles

are also superparamagnetic Tideglusib in vitro at room temperature and have a high magnetization, which enhance their response to external magnetic field and therefore should greatly facilitate the manipulation of the particles in practical uses. Acknowledgements This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 31271071 and 81072472) and the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (grant no. 2012 J01416) and The Medical Science and Technology Innovation Project of Nanjing Military Command (10MA078, 2010). References 1. SHP099 purchase Majeed MI, Lu Q, Yan W, Li Z, Hussain I, Tahir MN, Tremel W, Tan B: Highly water-soluble magnetic iron oxide (Fe 3 O 4 ) nanoparticles for drug delivery: enhanced in vitro therapeutic efficacy of doxorubicin and MION conjugates. J Mater Chem B 2013, 1:2874–2884.CrossRef 2. Veiseh O, Gunn J, Zhang M: Design and fabrication of magnetic nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery and imaging. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2010, 62:284–304.CrossRef 3. Hao R, Xing R, Xu Z, Hou Y, Gao S, Sun S: Synthesis,

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