SYNTHESIS OF MAGNETIC BEADS FOR BIO-SEPARATION USING THE SOLUTION METHOD

A modified solution process is used to produce super-paramagnetic nanocomposite particles containing functional groups for adsorption application. The powder is produced in a spray tower. The feed is a polymer solution containing two fractions of different particles: magnetite (14 nm) and polymer ion exchanger (150 nm). The spray-magnetic beads are submitted to different characterization methods: confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and alternating gradient magnetometry (AGM). The characterization clearly proves the super-paramagnetic properties at room temperature of the composite particles, even at a high filling degree of 30 wt.%. The evaluation of the protein binding capacity of the composite material shows excellent values, which are comparable to other ion exchange resins. Compared to the conventional methods, the solution process has a high potential in scale-up. Thus a potential application of magnetic separation technology in technical scale is possible.