Abstract: A highly selective temperature-responsive molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) hydrogel to salicylic acid (SA) was prepared by bulk polymerization at 60 °C, using salicylic acid as template molecule, acrylamide as functional monomer, N-isopropyl acrylamide as temperature-responsive monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as cross-linker, and azobisisobutyronitrile as the initiator. The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of molecularly imprinted polymer hydrogels is about 40 °C. The temperature responsive molecularly imprinted polymer hydrogels showed good selectivity for SA, while non-imprinted hydrogels showed low selectivity, relative to those analogues of SA. The maximum adsorption capacity of the temperature-responsive molecularly imprinted polymer hydrogels reaches up to 6.35 mg/g, which is 3.66 times for that of non-imprinted polymer hydrogels. Compared with the molecularly imprinted polymer without adding temperature-responsive monomers, the adsorption and elution efficiency of the MIP hydrogels with SA were increased by 33.3% and 50%, respectively. Moreover, the temperature-responsive hydrogels could absorb or release SA when the temperature was changed.
Template and target information: salicylic acid, SA, 2-hydroxybenzoic acid
Author keywords: Temperature-responsive hydrogels, specific selectivity, molecularly imprinted polymer, adsorption efficiency, release time

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