Magnetically Responsive Negative Acoustic Contrast Microparticles for Bioanalytical Applications.

Smart colloidal particles are routinely used as carriers for biological molecules, fluorescent reporters, cells, and other analytes for the purposes of sample preparation and detection. However, such particles are typically engineered to respond to a single type of stimulus (e.g., commercial magnetic beads to magnetic fields). Here, we demonstrate a unique class of particles that display both positive magnetic contrast and negative acoustic contrast in water. This dual functionality allows for fine spatiotemporal control, enabling multiple separation modalities and increasing the utility of the particles in various chemical and biological assays.