Background: In this work the chemical structure of dextran-iron oxide thin films was reported. The films were obtained by MAPLE technique from composite targets containing 10 wt. % dextran with 1 and 5 wt.% iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs). The IONPs were synthesized by co-precipitation method. A KrF* excimer laser source (λ = 248 nm, τFWHM≅25 ns, ν = 10 Hz) was used for the growth of the hybrid, iron oxide NPs-dextran thin films.

Results: Dextran coated iron oxide nanoparticles thin films were indexed into the spinel cubic lattice with a lattice parameter of 8.36 Å. The particle sized calculated was estimated at around 7.7 nm. The XPS shows that the binding energy of the Fe 2p3/2 of two thin films of dextran coated iron oxide is consistent with Fe3+ oxides. The atomic percentage of the C, O and Fe are 66.71, 32.76 and 0.53 for the films deposited from composite targets containing 1 wt.% maghemite and 64.36, 33.92 and 1.72 respectively for the films deposited from composite targets containing 5 wt.% maghemite. In the case of cells cultivated on dextran coated 5% maghemite γ-Fe2O3, the number of cells and the level of F-actin were lower compared to the other two types of thin films and control.

Conclusions: The dextran-iron oxide continuous thin films obtained by MAPLE technique from composite targets containing 10 wt.% dextran as well as 1 and 5 wt.% iron oxide nanoparticles synthesized by co-precipitation method presented granular surface morphology. Our data proved a good viability of Hep G2 cells grown on dextran coated maghemite thin films. Also, no changes in cells morphology were noticed under phase contrast microscopy. The data strongly suggest the potential use of iron oxide-dextran nanocomposites as a potential marker for biomedical applications.