Synthesis of Cyclodextrin Bonded Magnetic Nanoparticles for Adsorption of Amino Acids

Cyclodextrins (CDs) are a family of cyclic-oligosaccharides with usually 6–8 glucopyranose units. Because of their characteristic structural features,they have remarkable capacity to form inclusion complexes with variuos molecules through host-guest interactions. To produce insoluble cyclodextrin containing particles is desirable for separation of various molecules and other applications. This work presents a synthetic route to prepare cyclodextrin conjugated magnetic nanoparticles for adsorption of certain aromatic amino acids.The grafting of cyclodextrin onto the surface of nano-sized magnetic particles was characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). Adsorption isotherms for three small aromatic compounds, namely phenylalanine, tryptophan and tyrosine, were obtained experimentally using the as-sythesized magnetic nanoparticles. The effect of temperature and concentration of amino acids on adsorption efficiency were also investigated.