Towards water compatible MIPs for sensing in aqueous media

Area of Science:

• Polymer Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) offer selective molecular recognition capabilities.
• MIP performance is significantly influenced by porogen polarity, MIP microenvironment polarity, and solvent polarity.
• Developing MIPs for aqueous environments, especially for biomedical applications, is crucial but challenging due to water's high polarity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop water-compatible MIPs for the selective recognition of l-nicotine.
• To investigate methods for optimizing MIP synthesis to enhance performance in aqueous media.
• To evaluate MIP/non-imprinted polymer (NIP) couples for their binding behavior in water.

Main Methods:

• Synthesizing MIPs using porogen tuning with varying polarities, including mixtures.
• Incorporating polar or non-polar comonomers into the MIP matrix during synthesis.
• Evaluating MIP binding performance in aqueous environments using batch rebinding experiments.

Main Results:

• Porogen tuning, especially using mixed porogens, significantly improves MIP performance in water.
• Strategic incorporation of comonomers allows for the creation of MIPs that selectively bind targets in aqueous solutions.
• Optimized MIPs demonstrate selective binding of l-nicotine in aqueous media.

Conclusions:

• MIP synthesis can be effectively tailored to achieve compatibility with aqueous environments.
• Porogen tuning and comonomer selection are key strategies for developing water-compatible MIPs.
• The developed MIPs show promise for l-nicotine detection and other applications in aqueous media.