Ion cum molecularly dual imprinted polymer (DMIP) was synthesized for the simultaneous removal of salicylic acid (SA) and cadmium (Cd) by suspension polymerization method using chitosan (CTS) as functional polymer, epichlorohydrin as cross-linker, and 4-hydroxy benzoic acid (4HBA) as well as Cd as organic and inorganic templates, respectively. Use of the dummy template 4HBA during the synthesis of DMIP had the advantage of creating imprinted cavities in DMIP, which depicted good uptake for SA. Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform reported on the removal of both organic and inorganic pollutants simultaneously. Thus, attention needs to be given on developing more efficient method for removal of organic and inorganic pollutants simultaneously.
1-5In recent years, molecularly imprinting technique has gained much attention because it is a simple and convenient method to develop synthetic polymers showing high affinity towards the targeted analyte.It involves the formation of prepolymerisation complex between the template and functional monomer through covalent or noncovalent interaction in the presence of cross-linking agent. After polymerisation, template molecule is removed using suitable extracting solvent leaving behind memory sites that are complementary to template molecule.
6-10The super cross-linked nature of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs)imparts it high physical and chemical stability. In addition, MIPs can be reused without remarkable decrease in their binding capacity.
10-12Ion imprinting technique is a branch of MIP, widely used for synthesizing materials that are capable of recognizing metal ions. Ion imprinted polymers are highly cross-linked polymers synthesized in the presence of metal ion as the template. The template ion is then subsequently removed to get the ion imprinted polymers showing high selectivity towards targeted metal ion.
13,14Dual template imprinting can have several advantages over the conventional technique involving single template. Conventional