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. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012