Molecularly Imprinted Microspheres for Selective Recognition and Binding of Bisphenol A

A modified precipitation polymerization (MPP) method was employed to prepare molecularly imprinted polymer microspheres (MIPM) for selective recognition and binding of bisphenol A (BPA). MPP needed only small amount of porogen (about 50 wt.%) without any stabilizer and surfactant. Bisphenol A dimethacrylate (BADM) was used as a template monomer in the copolymerization with a crosslinkable monomer of divinyl benzene (DVB), and a mixture of toluene and liquid paraffin was used as porogen. The copolymers were hydrolyzed in acidic or basic condition, and washed by acetic acid/methanol. Hydrophilicity of MIPM was enhanced with ethanol wetting to improve the BPA binding capacity of MIPM. The resultant BPA imprinted polymer microspheres showed high selective recognition and binding ability to BPA. Scatchard analysis to MIPM showed high equilibrium binding constants for BPA.