| Abstract: | A metal ion‐imprinted microsphere was prepared by surface molecular template polymerization. Trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TRIM), zinc ions, 1,12‐dodecanediol‐O, O′‐diphenyl phosphonic acid (DDDPA) were used as a crosslinking agent, an imprint molecule, and a functional host molecule. The Zn(II)‐imprinted microspheres, which are spherically well‐defined particles, were prepared by using water‐in‐oil‐in‐water (W/O/W) multiple emulsions. The combination of TRIM and DDDPA serves to align the recognition sites resulting in better template sites produced on the polymer surface. We firstly conducted diagnostic zinc‐ and copper‐ion adsorption tests with the Zn(II)‐imprinted and unimprinted microspheres in order to make an assessment on the effectiveness of the molecular imprinting technique. Further, the metal‐imprinted microspheres were applied to the column operation. The separation and recovery of metals were carried out by an adsorption column packed with the Zn(II)‐imprinted microspheres. This performance was compared to that of commercial chelating resins that possess similar phosphoric functional groups. The Zn(II)‐imprinted polymer shows an extremely high selectivity to the imprinted zinc ions compared to that of the commercial chelating resin. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 689–696, 2000 |
