Preparation of lysozyme imprinted magnetic nanoparticles via surface graft copolymerization

Molecular imprinting as a facile and promising separation technique has received considerable attention because of their high selectivity for target molecules. In this study, we imprinted lysozyme (Lys) on the surface of core-shell magnetic nanoparticles via surface imprinting. The magnetic supports were functionalized with maleic acid and then coated with imprinted polymer layers. The structure and morphology of the resulting magnetic imprinted nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscope, dynamic light scatting, vibrating sample magnetometer, and thermogravimetric analysis. Binding experiments were carried out to evaluate the properties of magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (magnetic MIPs) and magnetic non-molecularly imprinted polymers (magnetic NIPs). The protein adsorption results showed that the magnetic MIPs had significant specific recognition toward the template protein and could be easily separated from solution by an external magnetic field. Moreover, the MIPs exhibited fast kinetics for the rebinding of the target protein due to the thin-imprinted layer and showed good reusability by four adsorption-desorption cycles. Therefore, the surface imprinting approach combined with magnetic nanoparticles provided an easy and fast method for the specific recognition of Lys.