Evaluation of molecularly imprinted polymer for determination of nonylphenol: Preliminary study

Molecularly imprinted (MIP) and blank polymers with afinity for nonylphenol were synthesized by a bulk method using methacrylic acid (MAA) as functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as crosslinker (EGDMA), benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as initiator, nonylphenol (NP) as template molecules, and acetonitrile as porogen. The performance of imprinted material was characterized by SEM, FTIR, and TGA. The result indicated that this material had not only binding properties but also high selectivity to the template molecule and having high afinity of imprinted polymers (MIP-NP) towards the template nonylphenol as compared with blank polymers (NIP), which had good application prospects in the selective enrichment and separation of NP for analysis of complex environmental samples.