Preparation and adsorption performance of molecularly imprinted polymers for Kaempferol

Molecularly imprinting polymers (MIPs) are a class of highly cross-linked polymer with specific binding sites for a target molecule. In this study MIPs were prepared by precipitation polymerization, using kaempferol as the template molecule, methacrylic acid as the functional monomer, azodiisobutyronitrile as the initiator, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the cross-linker in acetonitrile solvent. The synthesized kaempferol-MIP and nonimprinted polymer (NIP) were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope. In addition, the obtained polymers were evaluated by adsorption isotherms and dynamic curves with their selective recognition properties for kaempferol. The experimental results show that (1) the imprinted polymers are spherical morphology; (2) the adsorption dynamic curves of kaempferol-MIP and NIP indicate that the specific adsorption increases with time extension and reaches saturation in a short period, and the kaempferol-MIP exhibits a higher affinity for kaempferol than the NIP; (3) the Scatchard analysis reveals that there exists a class of homogenous recognition sites in kaempferol-MIP; apparent maximal combination amount (Q max) and equilibrium dissociation constant (K d) were calculated to be 2140 μg/g and 5.77 mg/L, respectively.