Preparation of Fe3O4@graphene oxide core–shell magnetic particles for use in protein adsorption

Core–shell structure Fe3O4@graphene oxide (GO) submicron particles have been prepared via a simple electrostatic self-assembly process. The Fe3O4@GO particles had good dispersibility in water, high saturation magnetization and sensitive magnetic response. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was chosen as model protein to study the efficacy of the Fe3O4@GO particles for protein adsorption. By virtue of the combined benefits of GO and Fe3O4, the Fe3O4@GO particles exhibited large adsorption capacity (181.8 mg/g) and fast adsorption kinetics for BSA. The performance of GO as a shell material for core–shell magnetic composites was found to be superior to that of conventional shell materials such as polymers and silicon, thus demonstrating the great potential of the Fe3O4@GO particles for application in magnetic bioseparation.