Preparation of rare earth metal hybridized magnetic chitosan nanoparticles for efficient DNA capture

The advancement of biomedicine and molecular diagnostics depends on effective nucleic acid separation methods. Nevertheless, creating high-performing and environmentally friendly nucleic acid adsorbent materials is still challenging. In order to achieve high-quality DNA capture, this work creatively created a rare earth metal hybridized magnetic chitosan nanoparticle (Fe₃O₄@CS@La(OH)₃) by combining the biocompatibility of chitosan with the effective coordination ability of La³⁺. The results showed that Fe₃O₄@CS@La(OH)₃ had a high specific surface area and superparamagnetism, with a high adsorption capacity of DNA up to 370.37 mg/g, and 80 % of DNA could be captured within 5 min, and the capture rate was up to 96.7 % within 2 h. This was primarily ascribed to the strong coordination and electrostatic interaction between La³⁺ and nucleic acids. Furthermore, the adsorption efficiency continued to exceed 90 % after five cycles, indicating exceptional reproducibility. This study involved the novel combination of the rare earth metal lanthanum with magnetic chitosan. The utilization of its unique coordination chemistry significantly enhanced the capture efficiency of nucleic acids, presenting potential applications in precision medicine and disease detection.