Deep eutectic solvent as dual roles for molecularly imprinted polymers: A green strategy for selective adsorption of...

Developing highly selective adsorbents for antibiotic removal from aquatic environments is often hindered by the instability of molecular recognition sites in aqueous media. Traditional molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) frequently exhibit impaired performance in water due to the disruption of non-covalent interactions. This study presented a general strategy for the fabrication of "greenificated" MIPs utilizing a deep eutectic solvent (DES) as both a functional monomer and a structure-directing porogen in a one-pot synthesis. The resulting polymer, MIP-DES/(20% MeOH), targeted sulfamethoxazole (SMX) through a "solvent-reactant synergy" mechanism. Under optimized conditions, the adsorbent achieved a maximum capacity of 59.58 mg/g and an imprinting factor of 1.80. Mechanistic elucidation using density functional theory (DFT) and spectroscopic analysis confirmed that the recognition was governed by specific hydrogen bonding, π-π interactions, and hydrophobic effects, which remained stable despite interference from competitive analytes, 12 water matrices and natural organic matter. Comprehensive assessments including AGREEMIP, life cycle analysis, biological toxicity, and long-term desorption together confirmed environmental friendliness of both pristine and SMX-saturated adsorbent. This work demonstrates that DES-mediated imprinting provides a robust pathway for the sustainable production of high-performance materials capable of selective recognition in complex engineered and natural water systems.