Direct control of the magnetic interaction between iron oxide nanoparticles through dendrimer-mediated self-assembly

Cationic superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles were assembled using a series of anionic polyamicloamine dendrimers. The resulting assemblies featured systematically increasing average interparticle spacing over a 2.4 nm range with increasing dendrimer generation. This increase in spacing modulated the collective magnetic behavior by effective lowering of the dipolar coupling between particles. The results obtained in these studies deviate from the predicted dependence of collective behavior on interparticle spacing, suggesting that a dense assembly of magnetically "free" particles can exist with a surprisingly small space between particles.