Magnetic molecularly imprinted electrospun nanofibers for selective extraction of nilotinib from human serum

A new magnetic molecularly imprinted nanofiber (MMIN) nanocomposite was prepared and used to the selective extraction of nilotinib. MMIN was constructed using a novel and general method including a combination of molecular imprinting and electrospinning technology. By electrospun precursor nanofibers containing polyacrylonitrile, Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles, and nilotinib as the template, molecularly imprinted nanofibers were produced with a mean diameter of 500 nm and lengths up to several millimeters. The microstructure and morphology of the prepared MMIN were thoroughly investigated using techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The MMIN was then used to the extraction of nilotinib. The extracted nilotinib was re-extracted and determined spectrofluorimetrically at the excitation and emission wavelengths of 271 and 335 nm, respectively. The relation between fluorescence signal for the re-extracted solution and nilotinib concentration was linear in the range 0.01-10.0 mg L^-1 (n = 9) and the RSD for the determination of 1.0 and 5.0 mg L^-1 nilotinib 2.75% and 1.09% (n = 3), respectively. The detection limit of the method was obtained as 0.002 mg L^-1 nilotinib. The results indicated that the proposed method can be successfully applied to the determination of nilotinib in human serum samples. Graphical abstract.