Microplatelets and fibers that can be manipulated using external magnetic fields find potential applications as miniaturized probes, micromirrors in optical switches, remotely actuated micromixers and tunable reinforcements in composite materials. Controlling the surface chemistry of such microparticles is often crucial to enable full exploitation of their mechanical, optical and sensorial functions. Here, we report a simple and versatile procedure to directly magnetize and chemically modify the surface of inorganic microplatelets and polymer fibers of inherently non-magnetic compositions. As opposed to other magnetization approaches, the proposed non-aqueous sol–gel route enables the formation of a dense and homogeneous coating of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) on the surface of the microparticles. Such coating provides a suitable platform for the direct chemical functionalization of the microparticles using catechol-based ligands displaying high affinity towards iron oxide surfaces. By adsorbing for example nitrodopamine palmitate (ND-PA) on the surface of hydrophilic magnetite-coated alumina platelets (Fe3O4@Al2O3) we can render them sufficiently surface active to generate magnetically responsive Pickering emulsions. We also show that microplatelets and fibers coated with a uniform iron oxide layer can be easily manipulated using low magnetic fields despite their intrinsic non-magnetic nature. These examples illustrate the potential of the proposed approach in generating functional, magnetically responsive microprobes and building blocks for several emerging applications.
利用外部磁场操控微型板状物和纤维,有望作为微型探针、光学开关中的微镜、远程驱动的微混合器以及复合材料中可调增强材料。控制这类微粒的表面
化学性质,往往对充分发挥其力学、光学和传感功能至关重要。在此,我们报道了一种简便且通用的方法,直接磁化并
化学改性原本非磁性组成的无机微板状物和聚合物纤维的表面。与其它磁化方法不同,这一提出的非
水相溶胶-凝胶路线使得超顺磁性
氧化铁纳米粒子(
SPIONs)在微粒表面形成致密且均匀的涂层。这样的涂层为一个适宜的平台,可利用对
氧化铁表面显示出高亲和性的基于
邻苯二酚的
配体,直接对微粒进行
化学功能化。例如,通过吸附硝基
多巴胺棕榈酸酯(ND-PA)在亲
水性的磁
铁矿涂层氧化铝片(
Fe3O4@
Al2O3)表面,我们能使它们表面活性足够强,从而生成磁响应性的Pickering乳液。我们还展示出,即使微板状物和纤维本身不具有磁性,一个均匀的
氧化铁涂层足以让它们在低磁场下轻松操控。这些例子展示了所提出方法在生成具备磁响应性的功能性微探针,以及多个新兴应用中的构建模块的潜力。