Adsorption and desorption of L-phenylalanine on nano-sized magnetic particles

Abstract

Nano magnetic particles play an important role in the field of bio-separations and biomedical applications. Due to their size, nanoparticles provide large specific surface area for adsorption of solutes and this coupled with the magnetic properties of these particles offer an excellent tool to handle these particles in suspension by using magnetic field. The present work deals with the synthesis, characterization and adsorption studies on nanomagnetic particles. The nanomagnetic particles (Fe3O4) were synthesized by chemical precipitation of Fe2+ and Fe3+ salts with alkaline medium under inert atmosphere. Characterization of magnetic particles were carried out using scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Subsequently, the adsorption studies were carried out using L-phenylalanine amino acid at different ionic strengths and from the adsorption isotherms observed, different isotherm patterns were established. The desorption of L-phenylalanine from nano magnetic particles were also performed under acidic medium. © 2006-2009 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN).