Molecularly imprinted polyethersulfone membranes for the sieving, binding and recognition of bisphenol A

Bisphenol A (BPA) molecularly imprinted polyethersulfone (PES) membranes were prepared by a liquid-liquid phase inversion technique. The BPA template molecules were then extracted from the solidified PES membranes by ethanol. BPA aqueous solutions with various concentrations were applied to the membranes to study the sieving performance. It was indicated that the sieving coefficient of the molecularly imprinted membranes was smaller than that of the non-imprinted ones due to the specific recognition sites. With the increase of BPA initial concentrations, the binding amounts of BPA increased. The recognition coefficients of BPA were 2.43, 2.18, and 1.91 for the BPA concentrations of 50, 100, and 150 mu mol/L, respectively. Furthermore, it was observed that with the increase of operation pressure, the binding amounts for the imprinted membranes decreased dramatically, which, however, does not occur for the non-imprinted ones. The recognition coefficients of BPA under the pressures of 0.01, 0.03, and 0.06 MPa were 2.18, 1.64, and 1.39, respectively.