Gino Picasso

Magnetically separable polymer (Mag-MIP) for selective analysis of biotin in food samples.

This work presents an efficient method for the preparation of magnetic nanoparticles modified with molecularly imprinted polymers (Mag-MIP) through core-shell method for the determination of biotin in milk food samples. The functional monomer acrylic acid was selected from molecular modeling, EGDMA was used as cross-linking monomer and AIBN as radical initiator. The Mag-MIP and Mag-NIP were characterized by FTIR, magnetic hysteresis, XRD, SEM and N2-sorption measurements. The capacity of Mag-MIP for biotin adsorption, its kinetics and selectivity were studied in detail. The adsorption data was well described by Freundlich isotherm model with adsorption equilibrium constant (KF) of 1.46 mL g(-1). The selectivity experiments revealed that prepared Mag-MIP had higher selectivity toward biotin compared to other molecules with different chemical structure. The material was successfully applied for the determination of biotin in diverse milk samples using HPLC for quantification of the analyte, obtaining the mean value of 87.4% recovery.

Synthesis of a new magnetic-MIP for the selective detection of 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene, a highly allergenic compound

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) in combination with magnetic nanoparticles, in a core@shell format, were studied for selective detection of 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB), a powerful allergenic substance. Magnetic nanoparticles were prepared by the co-precipitation method and mixed with oleic acid (OA). This material was then encapsulated in three types of hydrophobic polymeric matrix, poly-(MA-co-EDGMA), poly-(AA-co-EDGMA), and poly-(1-VN-co-EDGMA), by the mini-emulsion method. These matrices were used due to their ability to interact specifically with the functional groups of the analyte. Finally, the MIP-CDNB was obtained on the magnetic-hydrophobic surfaces using precipitation polymerization in the presence of the analyte. XRD diffraction patterns suggested the presence of magnetite in the composite and SEM analysis revealed a nanoparticle size between 10 and 18nm. Under the optimized adsorption conditions, the magnetic-MIP material showed a higher adsorption capacity (5.1mgg-1) than its non-magnetic counterpart (4.2mgg-1). In tests of the selectivity of the magnetic-MIP towards CDNB, α-values of 2.5 and 10.4, respectively, were obtained for dichlorophenol and o-nitrophenol, two structurally similar compounds, and no adsorption was observed for any other non-analogous analyte. The magnetic-MIP and magnetic-NIP were applied using water enriched with 0.5mgL-1 of CDNB, achieving recovery values of 83.8(±0.8)% and 66(±1)%, respectively, revealing the suitability of the material for detection of CDNB.

Influence of synthesis experimental parameters on the formation of magnetite nanoparticles prepared by polyol method

In this paper we present a modified polyol method for synthesizing magnetite nanoparticles using iron (III) nitrate, a low toxic and cheap precursor salt. The influence of the precursor salt nature and initial ferric concentration in the average particle size and magnetic properties of the obtained nanoparticles were investigated. Magnetite nanoparticles have received much attention due to the multiple uses in the biomedical field; for these purposes nanoparticles with monodisperse size distribution, superparamagnetic behavior and a combination between small average size and high saturation magnetization are required. The polyol conventional method allows synthesizing water-dispersible magnetite nanoparticles with these features employing iron (III) acetylacetonate as precursor salt. Although the particle sizes of samples synthesized from the conventional polyol method (denoted CM) are larger than those of samples synthesized from the modified method (denoted MM), they display similar saturation magnetization. The differences in the nanoparticles average sizes of samples CM and samples MM were explained though the known nanoparticle formation mechanism.

Electrochemical sensing using magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer particles previously captured by a magneto-sensor

The determination of 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) was used as a proof-of-concept to a simple analytical practical configuration applying magnetic molecularly imprinted particles (mag-MIPs). Mag-MIPs were captured from an emulsion by a home-made magneto-sensor (where a small magnet was entrapped by a graphite-epoxy composite) and then, this sensor, was transferred to the solution containing the analyte, where, after binding to the mag-MIPs, the analyte was directly analysed using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) since the magneto-sensor acted as the working electrode. After optimization, a detection limit of 6.0 μmol L-1 with a RSD of 2.7% was achieved along with suitable recoveries and selectivity. This methodology offers a different approach for electroanalytical methodologies using mag-MIPs.