Abstract: Novel techniques and materials are critical for the highly specific separation and analysis of complicated biosystems. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) featuring in high specificity, good chemical stability, easy preparation and low cost, have been applied successfully in many fields. However, classical MIPs still show limitations in incomplete template removal, slow mass transfer and low binding capacity, owing to the buried imprinting sites inside the polymers. The emergence of surface imprinting techniques provides a solution to the above problems. The surface location of the imprinting sites can increase efficient recognition sites, improve imprinting capacity, quicken mass transfer, facilitate the diffusion and elution. By rationally designing the core-shell structure, the surface molecularly imprinted materials show attractive potential in rapid, high efficiency and high selective separation. This review focuses on the recent developments in the applications of surface imprinting techniques, especially in the fields of sample preparation, chemical/biological sensing and targeted drug delivery.
Template and target information: Review - MIPs for separation and anlysis
Author keywords: molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), separation materials, Surface imprinting technique, Core-shell structure, selective analysis, review