On the magnetic field architecture required to capture superparamagnetic nanoparticles in a microcapillary flow
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Tom James; Nicholas J. Darton; Pulkit Agrawal; Bart Hallmark; Vincent H.B. Ho; Nigel K.H. Slater
- Source
- Journal of Nanoparticle Research. 12:307-317
- Subject
- Materials science
Capillary action
Flow (psychology)
Analytical chemistry
Nanoparticle
Bioengineering
General Chemistry
Condensed Matter Physics
Molecular physics
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Volumetric flow rate
Magnetic field
Neodymium magnet
Modeling and Simulation
Magnet
Nanomedicine
General Materials Science
- Language
- ISSN
- 1572-896X
1388-0764
The magnetic field required for the capture of superparamagnetic nanoparticles flowing in a microcapillary array under a constant pressure regime was investigated in vitro. It was found that the nanoparticles were captured in locations that varied significantly in magnetic field strength, and that the location of capture was strongly related to the net volumetric flow through the microcapillary array. A hypothesis is presented to explain these data in which the magnetic field of the trapping Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) block magnet is divided into two zones that act differently on the nanoparticles. In the first ‘steering zone’, nanoparticles are moved closer to the capillary wall where they can be captured downstream in the second ‘capture zone’. This hypothesis can be used in the future to design magnetic field shapes for more effective particle capture at higher flow rates with lower field strengths.