DOPAMINE SERVES AS A STABLE SURFACE MODIFIER FOR IRON OXIDE NANOPARTICLES

Iron oxide nanoparticles are an important class of nanomaterials in a broad range of biomedical applications because of their superparamagnetism and biocompatibility. The success of biomedical applications of iron oxide nanoparticles relies on the particles' surface functionalization, which requires robust and versatile surface anchors. Here, we report on a detailed examination of the dopamine-based surface modification of iron oxide nanoparticles. We used dopamine (2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)ethylamine) and L-dopa (3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine) as two surface modifiers and chose Fe 2 O 3 hollow nanoparticles and Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles as two representative substrates. Optical and TEM images showed that iron oxide nanoparticles dispersed very well in water after surface modification. The analysis of the UV-Vis spectra indicated that dopamine and L-dopa are stable after being immobilized on the surface of iron oxide nanoparticles when the pH value of the environment is about 7. The magnetic properties analysis further showed that the blocking temperature of the dopamine- or L-dopa-decorated iron oxide nanoparticles hardly changed over 20 days, confirming long-term stability of these surface modified nanoparticles. Cell assay indicated that these dopamine- or L-dopa-modified iron oxide nanoparticles were biocompatible. These results confirm that dopamine serves as a stable modifier and a robust anchor to functionalize iron oxide nanoparticles in biomedical applications.