Magnetic Molecularly Imprinted Polymers: Synthesis and Applications in the Selective Extraction of Antibiotics

Abstract

Recently, magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (MMIPs) have integrated molecular imprinting technology (MIT) and magnetic separation technology and become a novel material with specific recognition and effective separation of target molecules. Based on their special function, they can be widely used to detect contaminants such as antibiotics. The antibiotic residues in the environment not only cause harm to the balance of the ecosystem but also induce bacterial resistance to specific antibiotics. Given the above consideration, it is especially important to develop sensitive and selective methods for measuring antibiotics in the complex matrix. The combination of MMIPs and conventional analytical methods provides a rapid approach to separate and determine antibiotics residues. This article gives a systematic overview of synthetic approaches of the novel MMIPs materials, briefly introduces their use in sample pretreatment prior to antibiotic detection, and provides a perspective for future research.

Magnetic Molecularly Imprinted Polymers: An Update on Their Use in the Separation of Active Compounds from Natural Products

“…This magnetite preparation can be conducted by various techniques, namely co-precipitation, solvothermal/hydrothermal, oxidation method, flow injection synthesis, supercritical fluid method, microemulsion, thermal decomposition, chemical vapor deposition, electron beam lithography, microwave assisted, and sonochemical [ 58 ]. However, among all these Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticle preparation techniques, the most commonly used techniques for magnetic preparation of MMIP nanoparticles are co-precipitation and solvothermal/hydrothermal techniques [ 54 , 56 ]. The first step in the manufacture of MMIPs is to make magnetite, with the final product being in the form of iron (II, III) oxide or ferrosoferric oxide (Fe 3 O 4 ) [ 59 ].…”

“…This combination improves the adsorption selectivity and avoids being time-consuming due to the centrifugation and filtration stages in the separation process. Various methods and techniques for the development of magnetic nanoparticles as MMIP cores have been carried out to obtain the desired particle size, distribution, and chemical/physical properties [ 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 ]. In addition, MMIPs tend to have lower costs because they can be reused after a few simple processes.…”

“…Until now, there have been review articles related to MMIPs for the separation of antibiotics [ 56 ], food and the environment [ 53 ], biomarkers [ 57 ], and biomacromolecules [ 54 ]; however, there are no review articles discussing the use of MMIPs to separate active substances from natural products, their synthesis, and which factors must be considered in their manufacture. Hence, this review will discuss how to synthesize MMIPs, which factors must be considered in their manufacture, and their application in the separation of active compounds from natural products.…”

Factors Affecting the Analytical Performance of Magnetic Molecularly Imprinted Polymers

“…The most commonly used techniques for the magnetic preparation of MMIP NPs are the co-precipitation and solvothermal/hydrothermal techniques [ 12 , 90 ]. The first step in the manufacturing of MMIP is to make magnetite, with the final product producing iron (II, III) oxide or ferrosoferric oxide (Fe 3 O 4 ) [ 36 ].…”

“…Magnetic separation technology, in which polymers are prepared using MIP fabrication on the surface of a magnetic substrate, has been widely used in recent years for separation and extraction applications [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ], such as in the field of drug analysis in biological fluids [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ], analysis of compounds in the environment [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ], analysis of compounds in food [ 8 , 23 , 24 , 25 ] and analysis of compounds in plants and other naturally occurring products [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. Magnetic molecular imprinted solid phase extraction (MMI-SPE) is a new solid phase extraction (SPE) procedure based on the use of magnetic sorbents [ 8 , 16 ].…”