Theoretical Analysis of a Magnetic Separator Device for Ex‐Vivo Blood Detoxification

Biomedical applications of high gradient magnetic separation: progress towards therapeutic haeomofiltration

High gradient magnetic separation is a well-established technology in the mineral processing industry, and has been used for decades in the bioprocessing industry. Less well known is the increasing role that high gradient magnetic separation is playing in biomedical applications, for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. We review here the state of the art in this emerging field, with a focus on therapeutic haemofiltration, the key enabling technologies relating to the functionalisation of magnetic nanoparticles with target-specific binding agents, and the development of extra-corporeal circuits to enable the in situ filtering of human blood.

2, 2'-(Phenylazanediyl) diacetic acid modified Fe3O4@PEI for selective removal of cadmium ions from blood

A water-dispersible and supermagnetic nanocomposite (PAD-PEG-Fe(3)O(4)@PEI) has been successfully synthesized using polyethylenimine (PEI, Mol MW = 10000) coated supermagnetic Fe(3)O(4)-NH(2) which was modified with 2, 2'-(phenylazanediyl) diacetic acid (PAD) through the bridge of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG, Mol MW = 2000). The average particle size of PAD-PEG-Fe(3)O(4)@PEI was determined by TEM, and was about 50 nm. From magnetic hysteresis cycles for PAD-PEG-Fe(3)O(4)@PEI at room temperature, the saturation magnetization (Ms) was shown to be 58.14 emu g(-1). Inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP) analysis showed that the designed magnetic nanocomposite can remove 98% and 80% of Cd(2+) from water and blood, respectively.

A study of graphene films synthesized on nickel substrates: existence and origin of small-base-area peaks

Large-area graphene films, synthesized by the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, have the potential to be used as electrodes. However, the electrical properties of CVD-synthesized graphene films fall short of the best results obtained for graphene films prepared by other methods. Therefore, it is important to understand the reason why these electrical properties are inferior to improve the applicability of CVD-grown graphene films. Here, we show that CVD-grown graphene films on nickel substrates contain many small-base-area (SBA) peaks that scatter conducting electrons, thereby decreasing the Hall mobility of charges in the films. These SBA peaks were induced by small peaks on the nickel surface and are likely composed of amorphous carbon. The formation of these SBA peaks on graphene films was successfully suppressed by controlling the surface morphology of the nickel substrate. These findings may be useful for the development of a CVD synthesis method that is capable of producing better quality graphene films with large areas.