Comparison of adsorption and selectivity characteristics for 4-nitrophenol imprinted polymers prepared via bulk and suspension polymerization

This manuscript describes a method for the selective removal of phenolic compounds from aqueous medium by imprinted polymers, which is the noncovalent approach based on both hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction. These imprinted polymers were prepared by both bulk polymerization (IP1) and suspension polymerization (IP2) of methacryloylantipyrine (MAAP) in the presence of azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as an initiator and cross-linking EGDMA and was imprinted with 4-nitrophenol. The effect of polymerization technique (bulk and suspension) on the adsorption and selectivity of phenolics was investigated. The maximum adsorption capacities of these IP1 and IP2 polymers were 25.9 and 27.6 mg/g for 4-nitrophenol, respectively. It was observed that the 4-nitrophenol binding capacity decreased with increasing pH. The selectivity experiments showed that the polymer prepared via suspension polymerization has high-binding ability for 4-nitrophenol to other phenolics compared to the polymer prepared via bulk polymerization.