Self-assembly of a superparamagnetic raspberry-like silica/iron oxide nanocomposite using epoxy–amine coupling chemistry

Abstract

The fabrication of colloidal nanocomposites would benefit from controlled hetero-assembly of ready-made particles through covalent bonding. Here we used epoxy–amine coupling chemistry to promote the self-assembly of superparamagnetic raspberry-like nanocomposites. This adaptable method induced the covalent attachment of iron oxide nanoparticles sparsely coated with amine groups onto epoxylated silica cores in the absence of other reactants.