Rapid synthesis of magnetic polyimine nanospheres at room temperature for enrichment of endogenous C-peptide

Abstract A superparamagnetic polyimine nanosphere was synthesized by a facile and fast method at room temperature. The as-prepared nanospheres exhibited good physicochemical properties, resulting in outstanding performances in C-peptide enrichment with high detection sensitivity (0.1 fmol/μL), excellent reusability (at least six times) and size-exclusion effect (C-peptide/Cyt-C). Additionally, ultratrace C-peptide from human serum was clearly identified. This work provides a strategy for room temperature fast preparation of magnetic polyimine nanospheres, uniform and thick polyimine coating, showing the enormous potential of magnetic polyimine in clinical analysis.