Selective separation of fluorescent-magnetic nanoparticles with different magnetite-doping levels

Fluorescent-labeled magnetic nanoparticles were explored as a biomedical agent for selective magnetic separation. By adjusting the loading volume of citrate-stabilized magnetites during a sol-gel reaction with silicon alkoxide, magnetites were simultaneously embedded into both the surface and inside the silica matrix, consequently leading to magnetic nanoparticles with different doping levels of magnetites. For endowing them with multifunctional tools in biomedical fields, magnetic nanoparticles were further encapsulated with silica thin layer labeled with fluorescent organic dyes (such as Alexa Fluor 488 and 594). Fluorescent-magnetic nanoparticles with different magnetism successfully displayed the differential separation of fluorescence spectra under an external magnetic field.