Preparation of magnetic carbon nanotubes with hierarchical copper silicate nanostructure for efficient adsorption and removal of hemoglobin

The controllable synthesis of materials with the desired structure and dimensionality is of great significance in material science. In this work, the hierarchical CNTs/Fe3O4@copper silicate (CNTs/Fe3O4@CuSilicate) composites were synthesized via a simple chemical conversion route by using CNTs/Fe3O4@SiO2 nanocables as template. Firstly, magnetic CNTs composites (CNTs/Fe3O4) were synthesized by the high temperature decomposition process using the iron acetylacetonate as raw materials. Then a layer of SiO2 can be easily coated on the magnetic CNTs by the stöber method, which were then converted into CNTs/Fe3O4@CuSilicate composites by hydrothermal reaction between the silica shell and copper ions in alkaline solution. The resulting CNTs/Fe3O4@CuSilicate composites hold merits such as magnetic responsivity, good dispersibility, and large specific surface area. Moreover, the CNTs/Fe3O4@copper silicate composites have strong affinity toward bovine hemoglobin (BHb), which were successfully applied to convenient, efficient, and fast removal of abundant proteins (HHb and HSA) in human blood.