Herein, we report a fairly simple and environmentally friendly approach for the fabrication of starch-based magnetic polymer beads (SMPBs) with uniform shape and size through spontaneous rearrangement of short-chain glucan (SCG) produced by enzymatic debranching of waxy maize starch. The paramagnetic materials, dextran-coated iron oxide nanoparticles (Dex@IONPs), were readily incorporated into the starch microstructure and rendered a superparamagnetic property to the SMPBs. The morphology and size of resulting SMPBs turned out to be modulated by Dex@IONPs in a concentration-dependent manner, of which Dex@IONPs was assumed to be acting as a seed inducing the epitaxial crystallization of SCG and further transforming it into homogeneous microparticles. The surface of SMPBs was readily functionalized with an antibody through a one-step reaction using a linker protein. The immuno-SMPBs showed great capture efficiency (>90%) for target bacteria. The colloidal stability and favorable surface environment for biomolecules are believed to be responsible for the high capture efficiency and specificity of the SMPBs. Furthermore, the captured bacteria along with antibody and linker protein were effectively eluted from the surface of SMPBs by adding free maltose, making this new material suitable for various chromatographic applications.
Keywords: debranching; epitaxial growth; polymeric magnetic beads; self-assembly; waxy maize starch.