Magnetic Nanoparticle–Polyelectrolyte Interaction: A Layered Approach for Biomedical Applications

This study describes the surface modification of magnetic nanoparticles using two different approaches. The first approach consists of an in situ modification of the surface during the precipitation of the magnetic nanoparticles while the second approach consists of a post-modification of the surface after the formation of the magnetic nanoparticles. In the latter case, we adopted the Layer-by-Layer assembly of polyelectrolyte multilayers of poly(diallyl-dimethylammonium) chloride and poly(styrenesulfonate) to build a polymeric shell around the magnetic nanoparticle core, thereby intentionally conferring to this hybrid core–shell the same charge as the charge of the polyelectrolyte deposited in the last layer. Electrophoretic measurements reveal charge reversal indicating successful Layer-by-Layer deposition while magnetization studies show that the superparamagnetic behavior is not much affected by the presence of polyelectrolytes on the modified magnetic nanoparticles. Fourier transform infrared and thermogravimetry analysis results underline that the various polyelectrolytes employed, in both the methodologies adopted, were successfully bound to the nanoparticles.