Photocontrolled extraction of uric acid from biological samples based on photoresponsive surface molecularly imprinted polymer microspheres

We aim to develop novel photoresponsive surface molecularly imprinted polymer (SIMP) microspheres, an SiO₂‐SIMP, for the photocontrolled extraction of uric acid from biological samples. The SiO₂‐SMIP was prepared on silica microspheres by surface polymerization and characterized by using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis, and UV‐visible spectroscopy. The SiO₂‐SMIP microspheres showed a photocontrolled uptake and release of uric acid in NaH₂PO₄ buffer upon alternate irradiation at 365 and 440 nm. The SiO₂‐SMIP microspheres were able to photocontrollably extract uric acid from complicated biological samples for concentration analysis with no significant interference encountered and it exhibited very good recognition ability and fast binding kinetics toward uric acid.