Towards an ISO standard for magnetic nanoparticles

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) can be precisely manoeuvred by magnetic fields, and so offer many potentially valuable applications, such as targeting cells for cancer treatment, as well as in other biomedical applications, waste water treatment and acoustics. There are currently no international standards for measuring the magnetic properties of MNPs, thereby undermining consumer trust and hampering innovation. A new ISO standard “Liquid suspensions of magnetic nanoparticles” is in development.

This project has developed new MNP measurement approaches, including identifying and defining relevant physical parameters (eg saturation magnetisation, composition, magnetic interaction), and identify appropriate methods for measuring these. It has summarised the results, alongside those from other relevant projects, from a standardisation point of view and fed these into the standardisation process. The resulting ISO standard will provide the MNP industry - largely SMEs with limited resources - with improved confidence in magnetic properties and the ability to market new innovations accordingly.