Synthesis, characterization, and application of nano-molecularly imprinted polymer for fast solid-phase extraction of tartrazine from water environment

Abstract

In this paper, a new water-compatible nano-molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) of tartrazine with high-efficiency and a non-imprinted polymer (NIP) were synthesized by precipitation polymerization in aqueous medium as a green method and were characterized. Acryl amide and N,N′-methylene-bis-acrylamide were used as functional monomer and cross-linking agent, respectively. The synthesized MIP and NIP were characterized using thermal gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The MIP as a selective sorbent and the NIP as a blank were used to remove tartrazine, using solid-phase extraction from water environment. The effects of pH, time, MIP dosage, and tartrazine concentration on removing tartrazine were studied. The results show that the obtained MIP exhibits higher affinity for tartrazine. The imprinting-induced extraction was confirmed by determination of recovery values for NIP (8%) and MIP (91%). The binding capacity of MIP for this template was 147.6 mg g⁻¹.

Keywords:

• Nano-molecularly imprinted polymers
• Tartrazine removal
• Solid-phase extraction
• Non-imprinted polymer
• Water environment
• Green synthesis

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Amirkabir University of Technology, Iran Nano Technology Initiative Council, and Iran National Science Foundation for the financial and instrumental support of this research.