Tuning of the vinyl groups’ spacing at surface of modified silica in preparation of high density imprinted layer-coated silica nanoparticles: A dispersive solid-phase extraction materials for chlorpyrifos

This paper reports the preparation of high density imprinted layer-coated silica nanoparticles toward selective recognition and fast enrichment of chlorpyrifos (CP) from complicated matrices. The molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were successfully coated at the surface of modified silica through using the chemical immovable vinyl groups at the nanoparticles’ surface, followed by the graft copolymerization of methacrylic acid (MAA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) in the presence of templates CP. It has been demonstrated that the space of end vinyl groups at the surface of silica can be controlled by changing the condition of chemical modification, regulating the thickness of imprinted shells and the density of efficient imprinted sites. After removal of templates by solvent extraction, the recognition sites of CP were created in the polymer coating layer. The CP-imprinted nanoparticles exhibited high recognition selectivity and binding affinity to CP analyte. When the CP-imprinted nanoparticles were used as dispersive solid-phase extraction (dSPE) materials, the high recovery yields of 76.1-93.5% from various spiked samples with only 1 μg/mL analyte were achieved by one-step extraction. These results reported herein provide the possibility for the separation and enrichment of CP from complicated matrices by the molecular imprinting modification at the surface of common silica nanoparticles.     

硅胶表面扑灭津分子印迹材料的制备及性能表征

以扑灭津为模板分子,在甲苯溶液中经三步反应合成了基于硅胶表面修饰的分子印迹聚合物,并探讨了聚合物制备工艺,验证了聚合物的结构。红外1726cm-1指认印迹膜中的羰基特征峰,元素分析表明印迹材料含碳量18%,N2吸附实验表征印迹膜厚度为0.3nm。应用高效液相色谱-质谱考察了扑灭津和其它3种三嗪农药水溶液中的竞争吸附特性。研究表明:本法制备的表面印迹材料对4种三嗪类农药的吸附均优于参比材料。     

Preparation of quercetin imprinted core-shell organosilicate microspheres using surface imprinting technique

In this work,the quercetin imprinted core-shell microspheres were prepared using silica surface imprinting technique.A simple sol-gel procedure was used for the synthesis of the imprinted materials with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane as functional monomer and tetraethyl orthosilicate as crosslinker.The SEM images indicated that the MIPs shell was successfully grafted onto the silica surface.The characteristics of the molecularly imprinted polymers such as capacity,selectivity and absorption dynamic were investigated by rebinding experiments.The results showed that the prepared MIPs had good imprinting effect and adsorption amount of quercetin.     

Highly-controllable imprinted polymer nanoshell at the surface of silica nanoparticles based room-temperature phosphorescence probe for detection of 2,4-dichlorophenol

This paper reports a facile and general method for preparing an imprinted polymer thin shell with Mn-doped ZnS quantum dots (QDs) at the surface of silica nanoparticles by stepwise precipitation polymerization to form the highly-controllable core–shell nanoparticles (MIPs@SiO₂–ZnS:Mn QDs) and sensitively recognize the target 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP). Acrylamide (AM) and ethyl glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) were used as the functional monomer and the cross-linker, respectively. The MIPs@SiO₂–ZnS:Mn QDs had a controllable shell thickness and a high density of effective recognition sites, and the thickness of uniform core–shell 2,4-DCP-imprinted nanoparticles was controlled by the total amounts of monomers. The MIPs@SiO₂–ZnS:Mn QDs with a shell thickness of 45 nm exhibited the largest quenching efficiency to 2,4-DCP by using the spectrofluorometer. After the experimental conditions were optimized, a linear relationship was obtained covering the linear range of 1.0–84 μmol L⁻¹ with a correlation coefficient of 0.9981 and the detection limit (3σ/k) was 0.15 μmol L⁻¹. The feasibility of the developed method was successfully evaluated through the determination of 2,4-DCP in real samples. This study provides a general strategy to fabricate highly-controllable core–shell imprinted polymer-contained QDs with highly selective recognition ability.     

Composites of polyaniline nanofibers and molecularly imprinted polymers for recognition of nitroaromatic compounds

This paper reports a monomer strategy for imprinting of 1,3-dinitrobenzene (DNB) molecules at the surface of conductive functional polyaniline nanofibers (PANI) for the first time. It has been demonstrated that the vinyl functional monomer layer on the PANI surface can not only direct the selective occurrence of imprinting polymerization, but can also drive DNB templates into the polymer through charge-transfer complexing interactions between DNB and functionalized PANI. These two basic processes lead to the formation of DNB-imprinted polymers at the surface of polyaniline nanofibers. The capacity to uptake DNB shows that selectivity coefficient in the nanofibers polymers is nearly three times as high as that of traditional imprinted materials and the nanofibers polymers also possess high selectivity toward DNB in comparison to similar nitroaromatic compounds. A linear response of DNB concentration between 2.20×10(-8) and 3.08×10(-6) M was exhibited with a detection limit of 7.33×10(-9) M (S/N=3). These results reported here could form the basis of a new strategy for preparing various polymer-coating layers on polyaniline supports and the molecular imprinting techniques discussed could also find applications in the fields of separation, trace detection, and environmental monitoring.     

Preparation and characterization of molecularly imprinted silica monolith for screening sulfamethazine

In this work, a novel approach of preparing molecularly imprinted film‐derivatized silica monolith materials was developed by a two‐step procedure. The silica monolithic support was first prepared by the sol–gel method with tetramethoxysilane as the precursor. Subsequently, vinyl groups were introduced onto the surface of silica monolith by immobilization of γ‐methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane. The prepolymerization mixtures, consisting of methacrylic acid as a functional monomer, ethylene dimethacrylate as a crosslinker, sulfamethazine as a template molecule and an ionic liquid as porogen, were injected into the silica monolith immobilized vinyl groups to form the molecularly imprinted films on the surface of the vinyl functionalized silica monolith. The monolithic materials were characterized by SEM, Fourier transform IR and solid‐state reflection UV spectra. The resulted imprinted materials were evaluated under CEC and HPLC mode. The results indicated that there were enough recognition sites on the surface of the imprinted film‐derivatized monolithic materials for selectively recognizing sulfamethazine from the sulfonamide mixture. Ionic liquids, which was utilized as the porogens, could improve the flow‐through property and the imprinting effect of the molecularly imprinted film‐functionalized silica monolithic materials.     

Molecularly imprinted polymer layer-coated silica nanoparticles toward dispersive solid-phase extraction of trace sulfonylurea herbicides from soil and crop samples

This paper reports the preparation of metsulfuron-methyl (MSM) imprinted polymer layer-coated silica nanoparticles toward analysis of trace sulfonylurea herbicides in complicated matrices. To induce the selective occurrence of surface polymerization, the polymerizable double bonds were first grafted at the surface of silica nanoparticles by the silylation. Afterwards, the MSM templates were imprinted into the polymer-coating layer through the interaction with functional monomers. The programmed heating led to the formation of uniform MSM-imprinted polymer layer with controllable thickness, and further improved the reproducibility of rebinding capacity. After removal of templates, recognition sites of MSM were exposed in the polymer layers. As a result, the maximum rebinding capacity was achieved with the use of optimal grafting ratio. There was also evidence indicating that the MSM-imprinted polymer nanoparticles compared with nonimprinted polymer nanoparticles had a higher selectivity and affinity to four structure-like sulfonylurea herbicides. Moreover, using the imprinted particles as dispersive solid-phase extraction (DSPE) materials, the recoveries of four sulfonylurea herbicides determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were 80.2-99.5%, 83.8-102.4%, 77.8-93.3%, and 73.8-110.8% in the spiked soil, rice, soybean, and corn samples, respectively. These results show the possibility that the highly selective separation and enrichment of trace sulfonylurea herbicides from soil and crop samples can be achieved by the molecular imprinting modification at the surface of silica nanoparticles.     

Molecularly imprinted polymer functionalized magnetic Fe3O4 for the highly selective extraction of triclosan

We present a facile strategy to prepare the molecularly imprinted polymers layer on the surface of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles with core‐shell structure via sol–gel condensation for recognition and enrichment of triclosan. The Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were first synthesized by a solvothermal method. Then, template triclosan was self‐assembled with the functional monomer 3‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane on the silica‐coated Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles in the presence of ethanol and water. Finally, the molecularly imprinted polymers were formed on the surface of silica‐coated Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles to obtain the product. The morphology, magnetic susceptibility, adsorption, and recognition property of magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffractometry, vibrating sample magnetometry, and re‐binding experiments. The magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers showed binding sites with good accessibility, fast adsorption rate, and high adsorption capacity (218.34 μg/g) to triclosan. The selectivity of magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers was evaluated by the rebinding capability of triclosan and two other structural analogues (phenol and p‐chlorophenol) in a mixed solution and good selectivity with an imprinting factor of 2.46 was obtained. The application of triclosan removal in environmental samples was demonstrated.     

Rational design of core–shell molecularly imprinted polymer based on computational simulation and Doehlert experimental optimization: application to the separation of tanshinone IIA from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge

Computational simulation and Doehlert experimental optimization were done for the rational design of a core-shell molecularly imprinted polymer (CS-MIP) for use in the highly selective separation of Tanshinone IIA (TSIIA) from the crude extracts of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (SMB). The functional monomer layer of the polymer shells directed the selective occurrence of imprinting polymerization at the surface of silica through the copolymerization of vinyl end groups with functional monomers and also drove TSIIA templates into the formed polymer shells through the charge-transfer complex interactions between TSIIA and the functional monomer layer. As a result, the maximum rebinding capacity was achieved with the use of optimal grafting ratio by the Doehlert design. The CS-MIP exhibited high recognition selectivity and binding affinity to TSIIA. When the imprinted particles were used as dispersive solid phase extraction sorbents, the recovery yield of TSIIA reached 93% by a one-step extraction from the crude extracts of SMB, and the purity of TSIIA was larger than 98% by HPLC analysis. These results show the possibility of a highly selective separation and enrichment of TSIIA from the SMB using the TSIIA-imprinted core-shell molecularly imprinted polymers.     

Molecularly imprinted shells from polymer and xerogel matrices on polystyrene colloidal spheres

We have devised a facile and general methodology for the synthesis of various molecularly imprinted shells at the surface of polystyrene (PS) colloidal spheres to recognize the explosive compound 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). PS spheres with surface-functionalized carboxyl-group layers could direct a selective imprinting polymerization on their surface through the hydrogen-bonding interactions between surface carboxyl groups and amino monomers. Meanwhile, homogeneous polymerization in the solution phase was completely prevented by stepwise polymerization. The overall process led to the formation of monodisperse molecularly imprinted core-shell microspheres, and was very successful in the preparation of organic polymer and inorganic xerogel shells. Furthermore, greater capacity and faster binding kinetics towards target species were achieved, because surface-imprinted sites ensured the complete removal of templates, good accessibility to target molecules, and low mass-transfer resistance. The results reported herein, concerning the production of high-quality molecularly imprinted products, could also form the basis for the formulation of a new strategy for the fabrication of various functional coating layers on colloidal spheres with potential applications in the fields of separations and chemical sensing.     

Solid‐phase extraction based on a molecularly imprinted polymer nanoshell at the surface of silica nanospheres for the specific enrichment and identification of alkaloids from Crinum asiaticum L. var. sinicum

A molecularly imprinted nanoshell on the surface of silica nanospheres was prepared for specific enrichment and identification of alkaloids from Crinum asiaticum L. var. sinicum . The nanoshell was synthesized by surface polymerization using lycorine as the template, acrylamide as the functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the cross‐linker, 2′,2‐azobisisobutyronitrile as the initiator and acetonitrile as the pore‐forming agent. The core–shell nanospheres were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy, and the results show that the nanoshell layer was homogeneously attached to the surface of vinyl‐modified SiO₂ nanospheres. The adsorption capacity of the nanospheres was estimated by binding equilibrium and adsorption kinetics experiments. The maximum adsorption amount of lycorine on the nanospheres was 6.68 μmol/g and the imprinting factor was nearly 2.5, indicating a good imprinting effect. The nanospheres were successfully applied in solid‐phase extraction for lycorine from Crinum asaticum L. var. sinicum and detection of target molecule in rat metabolites. The average recoveries of lycorine in Crinum asaticum L. var. sinicum extraction and rat metabolites were 93.5 ± 0.6% (n = 3) and 91.6 ± 1.9% (n = 3), respectively. This work provides a simple approach for the fabrication of a molecularly imprinted nanoshell at the surface of silica nanospheres‐based solid‐phase extraction for drug analysis.     

Preparation and application of hollow molecularly imprinted polymers with a super‐high selectivity to the template protein

Protein‐imprinted polymers with hollow cores that have a super‐high imprinting factor were prepared by etching the core of the surface‐imprinted polymers that used silica particles as the support. Lysozyme as template was modified onto the surface of silica particles by a covalent method, and after polymerization and the removal of template molecules, channels through the polymer layer were formed, which allowed a single‐protein molecule to come into the hollow core and attach to the binding sites inside the polymer layer. The adsorption experiments demonstrated that the hollow imprinted polymers had an extremely high binding capacity and selectivity, and thus a super‐high imprinting factor was obtained. The as‐prepared imprinted polymers were used to separate the template lysozyme from egg white successfully, indicating its high selectivity and potential application in the field of separation of protein from real samples.     

The Synthesis of Magnetic Lysozyme‐Imprinted Polymers by Means of Distillation–Precipitation Polymerization for Selective Protein Enrichment

A protein imprinting approach for the synthesis of core–shell structure nanoparticles with a magnetic core and molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) shell was developed using a simple distillation–precipitation polymerization method. In this work, Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles were first synthesized through a solvothermal method and then were conveniently surface‐modified with 3‐(methacryloyloxy)propyltrimethoxylsilane as anchor molecules to donate vinyl groups. Next a high‐density MIP shell was coated onto the surface of the magnetic nanoparticles by the copolymerization of functional monomer acrylamide (AAm), cross‐linking agent N,N′‐methylenebisacrylamide (MBA), the initiator azodiisobutyronitrile (AIBN), and protein in acetonitrile heated at reflux. The morphology, adsorption, and recognition properties of the magnetic molecularly imprinted nanoparticles were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and rebinding experiments. The resulting MIP showed a high adsorption capacity (104.8 mg g^?1) and specific recognition (imprinting factor=7.6) to lysozyme (Lyz). The as‐prepared Fe₃O₄@Lyz‐MIP nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 320 nm were coated with an MIP shell that was 20 nm thick, which enabled Fe₃O₄@Lyz‐MIP to easily reach adsorption equilibrium. The high magnetization saturation (40.35 emu g^?1) endows the materials with the convenience of magnetic separation under an external magnetic field and allows them to be subsequently reused. Furthermore, Fe₃O₄@Lyz‐MIP could selectively extract a target protein from real egg‐white samples under an external magnetic field.     

Interfacial Molecular Imprinting in Nanoparticle-Stabilized Emulsions

A new interfacial nano and molecular imprinting approach is developed to prepare spherical molecularly imprinted polymers with well-controlled hierarchical structures. This method is based on Pickering emulsion polymerization using template-modified colloidal particles. The interfacial imprinting is carried out in particle-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions, where the molecular template is presented on the surface of silica nanoparticles during the polymerization of the monomer phase. After polymerization, the template-modified silica nanoparticles are removed from the new spherical particles to leave tiny indentations decorated with molecularly imprinted sites. The imprinted microspheres prepared using the new interfacial nano and molecular imprinting have very interesting features: a well-controlled hierarchical structure composed of large pores decorated with easily accessible molecular binding sites, group selectivity toward a series of chemicals having a common structural moiety (epitopes), and a hydrophilic surface that enables the MIPs to be used under aqueous conditions.     

Molecularly imprinted layer-coated silica nanoparticles toward highly selective separation of active diosgenin from Dioscorea nipponica Makino

This paper reports the molecularly imprinted layer-coated silica nanoparticles toward highly selective separation of active diosgenin (DG) from the crude extracts of Dioscorea nipponica Makino (DNM). It has been demonstrated that DG templates were efficiently imprinted into the silica layer by the use of thermally cleavable urethane bonds between DG and 3-isocyanatopropyltriethoxysilane (IPTS), which was synchronously coated onto the surface of silica mother nanoparticles through a seed-directing surface condensation reaction between DG-IPTS and tetraethoxysilicane (TEOS). After removal of templates by simple thermal cleavage reaction, a high density of recognition sites of DG were created in the silica-coating layer. Afterwards, the DG-imprinted silica nanoparticles were evaluated by rebinding experiments and showed a higher selectivity and affinity to DG than commercial silica. When the imprinted particles were used as solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbents, the recovery yield of DG was up to 90% by one-step extraction from the hydrolysate of DNM, and the purity of DG was larger than 98% by HPLC analysis. These results reported herein provide the possibility for the highly selective separation and purification of active DG from DNM by the molecular imprinting modification at the surface of common silica adsorbents.     

Synthesis of thermo‐responsive bovine hemoglobin imprinted nanoparticles by combining ionic liquid immobilization with aqueous precipitation polymerization

Surface molecular imprinting over functionalized nanoparticles has proved to be an effective approach for construction of artificial nanomaterials for protein recognition. Herein, we report a strategy for synthesis of core–shell protein‐imprinted nanoparticles by the functionalization of nano‐cores with ionic liquids followed by aqueous precipitation polymerization to build thermo‐responsive imprinted polymer nano‐shells. The immobilized ionic liquids can form multiple interactions with the protein template. The polymerization process can produce thermo‐reversible physical crosslinks, which are advantageous to enhancing imprinting and facilitating template removal. With bovine hemoglobin as a model template, the imprinted nanoparticles showed temperature‐sensitivity in both dispersion behaviors and rebinding capacities. Compared with the ionic‐liquid‐modified core nanoparticles, the imprinted particles exhibited greatly increased selectivity and two orders of magnitude higher binding affinity for the template protein. The imprinted nanoparticles achieved relatively high imprinting factor up to 5.0 and specific rebinding capacity of 67.7 mg/g, respectively. These nanoparticles also demonstrated rapid rebinding kinetics and good reproducibility after five cycles of adsorption–regeneration. Therefore, the presented approach may be viable for the fabrication of high‐performance protein‐imprinted nanoparticles with temperature sensitivity.     

Molecularly imprinted magnetic nanoparticles for the micro solid‐phase extraction of thiabendazole from citrus samples

The preparation of molecularly imprinted core–shell magnetic nanoparticles and their subsequent use in the solid‐phase extraction of thiabendazole from citrus sample extracts is described. Molecularly imprinted core–shell magnetic nanoparticles were prepared by the precipitation copolymerization of the imprinting polymerization mixture on the surface of vinyl‐modified silica magnetic nanoparticles and were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The obtained molecularly imprinted core–shell magnetic nanoparticles exhibited a high selectivity for thiabendazole and were easily collected and separated by an external magnetic field without additional centrifugation or filtration steps. Under optimum conditions, a magnetic molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction method was developed allowing the extraction of thiabendazole from citrus sample extracts and final determination by high‐performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. The detection limit was 0.2 mg/kg, far lower than the maximum residue limit established within the European Union for thiabendazole in citrus samples.     

Surface molecular imprinting for chemiluminescence detection of the organophosphate pesticide chlorpyrifos

We report on a surface molecular imprinting strategy for synthesizing core-shell particles whose shell is imprinted with chlorpyrifos (CPF). The particles were prepared by copolymerization of the methacryloyl groups on the surface of silica particles modified with 3-methacryloxypropyl trimethoxysilane a functional monomer and a cross-linking agent. The imprinted particles exhibit larger binding capacity, faster binding kinetics, and higher recognition selectivity for CPF. Combined with highly sensitive chemiluminescence assay, the method was applied to the determination of CPF with a detection limit of 0.92?nM which is about 2 orders of magnitude lower than that by conventional CL method. The method also displays repeatability for more than 200 times.

Core-shell nanostructured molecular imprinting fluorescent chemosensor for selective detection of atrazine herbicide

To convert the binding events on molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) into physically detectable signals and to extract the templates completely are the great challenges in developing MIP-based sensors. In this paper, a core-shell nanostructure was employed in constructing the MIP chemosensor for the improvements of template extraction efficiency and imprinted sites accessibility. Vinyl-substituted zinc(II) protoporphyrin (ZnPP) was used as both fluorescent reporter and functional monomer to synthesize atrazine-imprinted polymer shell at silica nanoparticle cores. The template atrazine coordinates with the Lewis acid binding site Zn of ZnPP to form a complex for the molecular imprinting polymerization. These imprinted sites are located in polymer matrix of the thin shells (~8 nm), possessing better accessibility and lower mass-transfer resistance for the target molecules. The fluorescence properties of ZnPP around the imprinted sites will vary upon rebinding of atrazine to these imprinted sites, realizing the conversion of rebinding events into detectable signals by monitoring fluorescence spectra. This MIP probe showed a limit of detection (LOD) of about 1.8 μM for atrazine detection. The core-shell nanostructured MIP method not only improves the sensitivity, but also shows high selectivity for atrazine detection when compared with the non-molecular imprinted counterparts.     

Selective separation and determination of quercetin from red wine by molecularly imprinted nanoparticles coupled with HPLC and ultraviolet detection

In this study, a highly sensitive and selective sample pretreatment procedure using molecularly imprinted silica nanoparticles was developed for the extraction and determination of quercetin in red wine samples coupled with high‐performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. The imprinted silica nanoparticles were prepared in the presence of N‐acryoyl‐l ‐aspartic acid (functional monomer), quercetin (template), azobisisobutyronitrile (initiator) and methylene bisacrylamide (cross‐linker) and methanol/water (porogen) via surface‐initiated reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. Surface characterization was performed and several imprinting parameters were investigated, and the results indicated that adsorption of quercetin on the imprinted silica nanoparticles followed a pseudo‐first‐order adsorption isotherm with a maximum adsorption capacity at 26.4 mg/g within 60 min. The imprinted silica nanoparticles also showed satisfactory selectivity towards quercetin as compared with its structural analogues. Moreover, the imprinted nanoparticles preserved their recognition ability even after five adsorption–desorption cycles. Meanwhile, the nanoparticles were successfully applied to selective extraction of quercetin from red wine with a high recovery (99.7–100.4%). The limit of detection was calculated to be 0.058 μg/mL with a correlation coefficient 0.9996 in the range of 0.2–50 μg/mL. As a result, the developed selective extraction method using molecular imprinting technology simplifies the sample pretreatment procedure before determination of quercetin in real samples.