Monodispersed magnetic polystyrene beads with excellent colloidal stability and strong magnetic response.

Monodispersed polystyrene beads incorporated with Fe(3) O(4) nanoparticles are prepared via dispersion polymerization. The resultant magnetic beads present well-defined composite structures, excellent colloidal stability, and strong magnetic response. The formation mechanism for the monodispersed composite beads, incorporated with preformed Fe(3) O(4) nanocrystals, was investigated. The potential applications of the monodispersed magnetic beads in bacteria capturing were demonstrated. After being coated with anti-Salmonella CSA-1 antibody, the magnetic beads show capturing efficiencies of >99.4% in isolating Salmonella sp.