Covalent coupling of polyacrylic acid coated magnetic-nanoparticles to multi-wall carbon nanotubes for manipulation targets

This research effort investigated the chemical heterojunction between magnetic nanoparticles coated with polyacrylic acid and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Here, magnetic nanoparticles were covalently attached to open-ended nanotubes in the presence of diclohexylcarbodiiimide. Initial evidence demonstrated that short functionalised multi-wall nanotubes can be continuously connected at their terminals ends to build-up relatively large nanostructures. It has also been shown that magnetic-carbon nanotubes (CNTs) systems exhibited defined arrangements due to the influence of magnetic fields. Indeed, linear arrays of CNTs interconnected through magnetic nanoparticles were prone to be manipulated in the presence of a magnetic device. A potential application of these kind of magnetic nanostructures was shown here by successfully manipulating agarose beads in a buffer solution. These results suggest that the use of continuously connected magnetic nanostructures with non-modified sidewall surfaces will find potential applications in the area of bio-sensing, force transduction and cancer screening-manipulation among many others.