Collective
magnetic relaxation of coupled nanoparticle’s
magnetic moments and its influence in magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia
(MNH) therapy are studied by combining experimental data, numerical
simulations, and theoretical approaches. Frequency-dependent MNH of
Mn-ferrite nanoparticles with different particle sizes and different
nanoparticle arrangements, controlled by medium pH and surface coating,
revealed that the hyperthermia efficiency could increase or decrease
depending on the nanoparticle’s organization within the aggregate.
Effective relaxation times of ∼10–7 s were
obtained for heat generation that are not explained by Brownian or
single-particle Néel relaxation. In particular, we propose
a theoretical approach that is a generalization of the Allia–Knobel
phenomenological model that allows us to build magnetic regime diagrams
and find the conditions for single-particle relaxation (superparamagnetic,
interacting superparamagnetic, and single-particle blocked regimes)
and collective magnetic relaxation. The regimes depend on dipolar
strength, temperature, particle size, aggregate shape and length,
magnetization, and magnetic anisotropy (together with axes arrangement).
We demonstrate through a detailed nanoparticle characterization (including
the temperature dependence of magnetization and anisotropy) that the
collective relaxation is responsible for the heat generation of magnetic
nanostructures. We believe that our findings and our approach to study
the collective magnetic relaxation open new perspectives for designing
more efficient magnetic nanocarriers for hyperthermia and explain
superferromagnetism as a collective blocked regime.