Synthesis of multi-core-shell magnetic molecularly imprinted microspheres for rapid recognition of dicofol in tea

Magnetic multi-core-shell molecularly imprinted microspheres (Fe3O4@MIMs) based on multi-Fe3O4 nanoparticles as core structures and dummy imprinted materials as shell structures have been synthesized by a surface-imprinted technique using dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane as the dummy template and were successfully used as a specific adsorbent for rapid isolation of trace levels of dicofol from teas. The resulting Fe3O4@MIMs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, vibrating sample magnetometer, and thermogravimetric analysis. In comparison to the imprinted polymers prepared by the traditional polymerizations, the obtained Fe3O4@MIMs showed regularly spherical shape, porous morphologies, high saturation magnetization [56.8 electromagnetic units (emu)/g], and rapid response time (15 s). The as-synthesized Fe3O4@MIMs, which incorporated the excellent molecular recognition and magnetic separation properties, were successfully used as special adsorbents for rapid isolation and extraction of trace levels of dicofol and its analogues from a complicated tea matrix.