Low molecular weight glycerol derived coatings on magnetic nanoparticles: role of initiator, temperature, rate of monomer addition, enhanced biocompatibility and stability

Biocompatible polymer coatings for magnetic nanoparticles have shown to drastically increase their usability towards biomedical applications. The coatings imprint characteristics such as stability, resistance to non-specific adsorption and tolerance in complex media for biomedicine. Herein, a thorough investigation towards the anionic ring-opening polymerization of glycidol on the surface of carbon-coated cobalt nanoparticle was performed. Reaction parameters that influence polymer growth have been investigated. Thereafter, a maximal achievable hyperbranched polyglycidol M(w) of up to 1148 g mol(−1) under optimal reaction conditions was obtained. With this coating, the dispersion stability of the particles could be substantially increased, the non-specific adsorption of proteins could be decreased to 10% while retaining an efficient magnetic separation.