Catalytic molecularly imprinted polymer membranes: Development of the biomimetic sensor for phenols detection

Abstract

Portable biomimetic sensor devices for the express control of phenols content in water were developed. The synthetic binding sites mimicking active site of the enzyme tyrosinase were formed in the structure of free-standing molecularly imprinted polymer membranes. Molecularly imprinted polymer membranes with the catalytic activity were obtained by co-polymerization of the complex Cu(II)-catechol-urocanic acid ethyl ester with (tri)ethyleneglycoldimethacrylate, and oligourethaneacrylate. Addition of the elastic component oligourethaneacrylate provided formation of the highly cross-linked polymer with the catalytic activity in a form of thin, flexible, and mechanically stable membrane. High accessibility of the artificial catalytic sites for the interaction with the analyzed phenol molecules was achieved due to addition of linear polymer (polyethyleneglycol Mw 20,000) to the initial monomer mixture before the polymerization. As a result, typical semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (semi-IPNs) were formed. The cross-linked component of the semi-IPN was represented by the highly cross-linked catalytic molecularly imprinted polymer, while the linear one was represented by polyethyleneglycol Mw 20,000. Extraction of the linear polymer from the fully formed semi-IPN resulted in formation of large pores in the membranes' structure. Concentration of phenols in the analyzed samples was detected using universal portable device oxymeter with the oxygen electrode in a close contact with the catalytic molecularly imprinted polymer membrane as a transducer. The detection limit of phenols detection using the developed sensor system based on polymers-biomimics with the optimized composition comprised 0.063 mM, while the linear range of the sensor comprised 0.063-1 mM. The working characteristics of the portable sensor devices were investigated. Storage stability of sensor systems at room temperature comprised 12 months (87%). As compared to traditional methods of phenols detection the developed sensor system is characterized by simplicity of operation, compactness, and low cost.

Recent advances in recognition elements of food and environmental biosensors: A review

“…Sergeyeva et al (2010) engineered a highly cross-linked polymer with catalytic activity in a form of thin, flexible, and mechanically stable membrane for the detection of phenols. Metilda et al (2007) fabricated a potentiometric sensor by dispersing the uranyl ion imprinted polymer particles in (Liang et al, 2009).…”

Development of Molecularly Imprinted Olanzapine Nano-particles: In Vitro Characterization and In Vivo Evaluation

“…Molecular imprinting is not a new know-how and its technology originated 70-80 years ago but has changed and improved significantly during this period (5). At the beginning, these polymers were applied in different chemical purification and analytical separation techniques and processes (6)(7)(8), as scavenger for undesired compounds in food industries (9), as a tool for drug discovery (10), and as enzyme-like catalysts (11). Recently, MIPs are considered as a drug delivery tool as not only they can have better control on drug release in comparison to conventional polymers due to their selective affinity to the host molecule but also they can achieve responsiveness to environmental conditions by employing responsive comonomers in their structure and hence regulate the drug release from the polymeric network (12).…”

Influence of polymer morphology on the adsorption behaviors of molecularly imprinted polymer‐methacrylic acid functionalized β‐cyclodextrin

“…The technique of MIPs is based on three main steps; (i) self-assembly of template and monomer molecules, (ii) polymerization of template-monomer complex with cross-linking agent, and (iii) template removal to create binding cavity that is specific to the imprint molecule. 2 MIPs can be used in many different fields such as separation, 3 catalyst, 4 and sensor. 5 Over the past decade, significant inroads have been made towards elucidating the nature of the molecular level mechanisms governing the recognition characteristics of MIPs material.…”