Morphologies and binding characteristics of molecularly imprinted polymers prepared by precipitation polymerization

Abstract Molecularly imprinted polymers using L‐2‐chloromandelic acid as templates were prepared by precipitation polymerization. The polymer particles exhibited a regular shape in the nanoscale range; moreover, the size and the uniformity of the particles were influenced by the concentration of monomers, polymerization temperature, types and concentrations of initiators. The experimental binding tests indicated that the nanospherical imprinted polymers possessed higher specific affinity to templates in comparison with traditional imprinted polymers prepared by bulk polymerization. Two classes of specific binding sites in the polymer matrix were investigated by the Scatchard method and ‘Hyperchem’ simulation studies. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry