A novel magnetic ion imprinted polymer as a selective magnetic solid phase for separation of trace lead(II) ions from agricultural products, and optimization using a Box–Behnken design

•A novel Fe3O4@SiO2@IIP polymer was used for determination trace amounts of lead ions.•A Box–Behnken design was used for evaluation and determination of the optimum condition through response surface methodology.•The method was used for detection of Pb(II) in different agricultural products. In this work, a magnetic ion-imprinted polymer (Fe3O4@SiO2@IIP) as a novel and selective nanosorbent for selective extraction of Pb(II) ions from various agricultural products is presented. The novel lead magnetic ion-imprinted polymer was synthesized by imidazole as a new ligand and grafted onto the surface of Fe3O4@SiO2 NPs. A Box–Behnken (BBD) design was used for optimization of the extraction and elution steps. In the selected conditions, the limit of detection was 0.48ngmL−1, preconcentration factor was 300, the sorption capacity of this new magnetic ion-imprinted polymer was 105mgg−1, and the precision of the method (RSD%) for six replicate measurements was found 3.2%. Finally, the feasibility of the new magnetic ion-imprinted polymer was evaluated by extraction and determination of trace Pb2+ ions in different agricultural products including (orange, mango, apple, kiwi, lettuce, broccoli, carrot, squash, eggplant, radish, mushroom, cucumber, and tomato).