Acrylamide based molecularly imprinted polymer for detection of m-nitrophenol

Molecular imprinting has already proven to be one of the most promising artificial receptors that can lead to specific recognition at molecular level. In this work, molecular imprinting polymers (MIPs) were prepared from acrylamide (ACM) as functional monomer and m-nitrophenol as template respectively. Bis-acrylamide was used as cross-linker. Synthesis was carried out first by ultrasonication of the reaction mixture containing monomer, cross-linker and template in chloroform. Subsequently, the polymerization was conducted at high temperature catalyzed by initiator. Interaction between functional monomers and template was studied by using UV-Vis and 1H NMR spectroscopy. Removal and rebinding of template were monitored by using FTIR (ATR) and cross-polarization magic angle spinning (CP-MAS) 13C NMR spectrometer. The SEM micrograph showed absence of cavity in non-imprinted polymer (NIP), whereas definite cavities were observed in imprinted polymer (MIP). Maximum binding of m-nitrophenol by MIP was higher at lower template concentration, i.e., 0.54 mg/g of MIP at template concentration of 5 ppm as compared to 0.42 mg/g of MIP at template concentration of 10 ppm. Further, bis-acrylamide crosslinked MIP exhibited better binding ability as compared to that of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate cross linked MIP.