Magnetic nanomaterials (MNMs) have gained great interest from di ff erent fi elds of study ranging from wastewater treatment to (bio)sensor development, taking advantage of both nanoscale size (allowing high surface-to-volume ratios) and the opportunity for magnetic manipulation. These materials can be surface-modi fi ed with antibodies, oligonucleotides, and aptamers to enable selective binding with target viruses or their biomarkers in biological samples. Using an external magnetic fi eld, MNM-virus/ biomarker complexes can be e ff ectively isolated for further analysis. In some cases, the role of MNMs is not limited to simply serve as magnetic sorbents for extraction purposes as they have become an active part of some emerging detection processes (e.g., the use of magnetoresistive sensors). The combined application of MNMs with micro fl uidics for virus detection provides promising avenues for diagnostic tests that are of lower cost, require less time, and have higher speci fi city and sensitivity over conventional tests. This review focuses on the di ff erent approaches of virus detection using MNMs integrated in micro fl uidic chips. We will discuss recent research fi ndings and provide insights and future perspectives for the development of low-cost and e ff ective COVID-19 diagnostics tests.
