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Magnetic Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Detection, Characterization and Applications

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 September 2023) | Viewed by 7619

Special Issue Editor

Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Technology of the Ministry of Education, Department of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
Interests: magnetic nanoparticle; magnetic assembly; magnetic separation; synthetic microbe; rhizosphere microbiome; antimicrobial therapy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Magnetic nanoparticles, together with magnetic assemblies, are becoming hot topics of material science, chemistry, biomedicine, and microbiology. A great number of natural and artificial magnetic nanoparticles and assemblies have particularly been developed for application in MRI, magnetothermal therapy, magnetic separation, etc. The purpose of this Special Issue is to publish research papers and reviews related to synthesis, detection, characterization, bioeffect, and application of magnetic nanoparticles and to provide a platform for communication between experts in the research fields of magnetic materials, magnetotactic bacteria, biomedicine, etc.

Dr. Qilin Yu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • magnetic nanoparticle
  • magnetic assembly
  • antimicrobial therapy
  • cancer therapy
  • MRI
  • magnetic separation
  • magnetothermal effect
  • magnetotactic bacteria

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 5335 KiB  
Article
Constructing a Visible-Active CoFe2O4@Bi2O3/NiO Nanoheterojunction as Magnetically Recoverable Photocatalyst with Boosted Ofloxacin Degradation Efficiency
by Pooja Dhiman, Gaurav Sharma, Abdullah N. Alodhayb, Amit Kumar, Garima Rana, Thandiwe Sithole and Zeid A. ALOthman
Molecules 2022, 27(23), 8234; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27238234 - 25 Nov 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1777
Abstract
Constructing visible-light-active Z-scheme heterojunctions has proven fruitful in enhancing the photocatalytic activity of photocatalysts for superior water clean-up. Herein, we report the fabrication of a CoFe2O4@Bi2O3/NiO (CBN) Z-scheme nanoheterojunction. The obtained CBN heterojunction was used [...] Read more.
Constructing visible-light-active Z-scheme heterojunctions has proven fruitful in enhancing the photocatalytic activity of photocatalysts for superior water clean-up. Herein, we report the fabrication of a CoFe2O4@Bi2O3/NiO (CBN) Z-scheme nanoheterojunction. The obtained CBN heterojunction was used for visible-light-assisted degradation of ofloxacin (OFL) in water. The OFL degradation efficiency achieved by the CBN heterojunction was 95.2% in 90 min with a rate constant of kapp = 0.03316 min−1, which was about eight times that of NiO and thirty times that of CoFe2O4. The photocatalytic activity of a Bi2O3/NiO Z-scheme heterojunction was greatly enhanced by the visible activity and redox mediator effect of the cobalt ferrite co-catalyst. Higher charge-carrier separation, more visible-light capture, and the Z-scheme mechanism in the Z-scheme system were the important reasons for the high performance of CBN. The scavenging experiments suggested O2 as an active species for superior OFL degradation. The possible OFL degradation pathway was predicted based on LC-MS findings of degradation intermediate products. The magnetic nature of the CBN helped in the recovery of the catalyst after reuse for six cycles. This work provides new insights into designing oxide-based heterojunctions with high visible-light activity, magnetic character, and high redox capabilities for potential practical applications in environmental treatment. Full article
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9 pages, 2779 KiB  
Article
Synthesis of Phenylboronic Acid-Functionalized Magnetic Nanoparticles for Sensitive Soil Enzyme Assays
by Can Li, Zhishang Shi, Jinxing Cai, Ping Wang, Fang Wang, Meiting Ju, Jinpeng Liu and Qilin Yu
Molecules 2022, 27(20), 6883; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27206883 - 14 Oct 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1533
Abstract
Soil enzymes, such as invertase, urease, acidic phosphatase and catalase, play critical roles in soil biochemical reactions and are involved in soil fertility. However, it remains a great challenge to efficiently concentrate soil enzymes and sensitively assess enzyme activity. In this study, we [...] Read more.
Soil enzymes, such as invertase, urease, acidic phosphatase and catalase, play critical roles in soil biochemical reactions and are involved in soil fertility. However, it remains a great challenge to efficiently concentrate soil enzymes and sensitively assess enzyme activity. In this study, we synthesized phenylboronic acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles to rapidly capture soil enzymes for sensitive soil enzyme assays. The iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were firstly prepared by the co-precipitation method and then functionalized by (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane, polyethyleneimine and phenylboric acid in turn, obtaining the final nanoparticles (MNPPBA). Protein-capturing assays showed that the functionalized MNPs had a much higher protein-capturing capacity than the naked MNPs (56% versus 6%). Moreover, MNPPBA almost thoroughly captured the tested enzymes, i.e., urease, invertase, and alkaline phosphatase, from enzyme solutions. Based on MNPPBA, a soil enzyme assay method was developed by integration of enzyme capture, magnetic separation and trace enzyme analysis. The method was successfully applied in determining trace enzyme activity in rhizosphere soil. This study provides a strategy to sensitively determine soil enzyme activity for mechanistic investigation of soil fertility and plant–microbiome interaction. Full article
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11 pages, 2536 KiB  
Article
Size-Dependent Impact of Magnetic Nanoparticles on Growth and Sporulation of Aspergillus niger
by Zhishang Shi, Yan Zhao, Shuo Liu, Yanting Wang and Qilin Yu
Molecules 2022, 27(18), 5840; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27185840 - 09 Sep 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1976
Abstract
Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are becoming important DNA nanocarriers for genetic engineering of industrial fungi. However, the biological effect of MNPs on industrial fungi remains unknown. In this study, we prepared three kinds of magnetic nanoparticles with different sizes (i.e., 10 nm, 20 nm, [...] Read more.
Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are becoming important DNA nanocarriers for genetic engineering of industrial fungi. However, the biological effect of MNPs on industrial fungi remains unknown. In this study, we prepared three kinds of magnetic nanoparticles with different sizes (i.e., 10 nm, 20 nm, and 200 nm) to investigate their impact on the growth and sporulation of the important industrial fungus Aspergillus niger. Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis and Zeta potential analysis revealed that the three kinds of MNPs, including MNP10, MNP20 and MNP200, had uniform size distribution, regular Fe3O4 X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and similar Zeta potentials. Interestingly, although the three kinds of MNPs did not obviously inhibit growth of the fungus, the MNP20 at 500 mg/L strongly attenuated sporulation, leading to a remarkable decrease in spore numbers on culturing plates. Further investigation showed that MNP20 at the high concentration led to drastic chitin accumulation in the cell wall, indicating cell wall disruption of the MNP20-treated fungal cells. Moreover, the MNPs did not cause unusual iron dissolution and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, and the addition of ferrous ion, ferric ion or the reactive oxygen species scavenger N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) had no impact on the sporulation of the fungus, suggesting that both iron dissolution and ROS accumulation did not contribute to attenuated sporulation by MNP20. This study revealed the size-dependent effect of MNPs on fungal sporulation, which was associated with MNP-induced cell wall disruption. Full article
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9 pages, 3053 KiB  
Article
Preparation of Magnetic MIL-68(Ga) Metal–Organic Framework and Heavy Metal Ion Removal Application
by Youjun Zhang, Licong Liu, Dixiong Yu, Jinglan Liu, Lin Zhao, Jinpeng Liu and Shuo Liu
Molecules 2022, 27(11), 3443; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27113443 - 26 May 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1613
Abstract
A magnetic metal–organic framework nanocomposite (magnetic MIL-68(Ga)) was synthesized through a “one pot” reaction and used for heavy metal ion removal. The morphology and elemental properties of the nanocomposite were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray powder diffraction [...] Read more.
A magnetic metal–organic framework nanocomposite (magnetic MIL-68(Ga)) was synthesized through a “one pot” reaction and used for heavy metal ion removal. The morphology and elemental properties of the nanocomposite were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), as well as zeta potential. Moreover, the factors affecting the adsorption capacity of the nanocomposite, including time, pH, metal ion type and concentration, were studied. It was found that the adsorption capacity of magnetic MIL-68(Ga) for Pb2+ and Cu2+ was 220 and 130 mg/g, respectively. Notably, the magnetic adsorbents could be separated easily using an external magnetic field, regenerated by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt (EDTA-Na2) and reused three times, in favor of practical application. This study provides a reference for the rapid separation and purification of heavy metal ions from wastewater. Full article
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