Facile synthesis of sea urchin-like magnetic copper silicate hollow spheres for efficient removal of hemoglobin in human blood

Well-defined superparamagnetic Fe3O4/Metal-Silicate(Cu2+, Ni2+, Mg2+) hollow spheres were fabricated using magnetite nanoparticles/silicon dioxide(denoted as SiO2@Fe3O4) as templates. Firstly, monodisperse SiO2 spheres were obtained by classical stöber method, and SiO2@Fe3O4 nanocomposites were fabricated in one-pot procedure through a solvothermal method, which were then converted into Fe3O4/Metal-Silicate with hollow nanostructure by hydrothermal reaction between the silica core and metal ions in alkaline solution. The resultant Fe3O4/Metal-Silicate composites exhibit both hollow structures and superparamagnetism. Furthermore, batch adsorption shows that the sea urchin-like Fe3O4/CuSilicate hollow spheres exhibited large specific surface area and an excellent adsorption capacity on bovine hemoglobin(BHb). The resulting composites show not only a magnetic response to an externally applied magnetic field, but also can be a good adsorbent for removing the high abundant proteins(human hemoglobin(HHb)) in human blood.