Preparation and characterization of molecularly imprinted polymers for the selective separation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid

As a method of preparing ligand-selective cavities in a synthetic polymer matrix, molecular imprinting technique has been attracting significant interest from a large number of areas in chemistry and analytical sciences. In this study, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were prepared with styrene, 4-vinylpyridine (4-VPy), and divinylbenzene (DVB) for the separation of hazardous 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), and the selectivity of MIPs as adsorbed 2,4-D and structurally similar materials was evaluated. The template was removed through the swelling process of toluene/ethanol, and the removal ratio was about 95–99%, respectively. MIPs synthesized in this study had good adsorption selectivity in the presence of other materials, although there was a difference of adsorption quantities (uptake) in the functional monomer (4-VPy contents) and the cross-linker (DVB contents). The results exhibit that the selectivity of MIPs was improved significantly by controlling the cross-linker. We expect that molecular imprinting technique will serve as a novel method for selective separation of specific materials in various fields, especially in the fields of environment and pharmaceutics.