Proceedings title: Polymer Preprints, Japan
Volume number: 51

Abstract: It is shown that molecular imprinting can memorize a conformation of a polymer chain in a thermo-sensitive heteropolymer gel. The gel can reversibly interact with a target molecule through multiple contacts in response to temperature change. The imprinted gel was synthesized in the present of template monomers. The imprinting was found to be effective in improving the overall affinity of the gel to the target molecule, whereas the affinity of the non-imprinted gel was hindered with an increase of the cross-linking degree. It is concluded that conformational memory of the flexible polymer chain was indeed accomplished according to these evidences—assembly of the target with multiple adsorbing monomers into 3-D bound complexes, their reversible destruction and restoration, and resolution of the frustration.

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