Application of Functional Magnetic Nanoparticles for Separation of Target Materials: A Review

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have unique properties that have made them widely used in medicine and biology. They are easy to work with due to their responsiveness to external magnetic force. Functionalization of nanoparticles(NPs) effectively improves performance, increases stability in the body and acidic environment, and prevents the agglomeration of the particles. One of the important applications of these NPs is in the separation of materials as solid-phase extracting agents. On the other hand, functionalizing these NPs can increase the efficiency, stability, specificity, and sensitivity of the structure to separate the target. In this paper, various material separation studies were collected and classified into several main groups based on material types. Study groups included functional MNPs for separating pathogen, organic and inorganic substances of environmental resources, removal of heavy metal ions, separation of biomolecules, isolation of cells, especially tumor cells, and harvesting the microalgae. The results showed that this method has advantages such as high sensitivity and specificity, is easy to use without needing an operator, low costs, and is a time-saving technique for not requiring sample preparation and concentration.