Preparation of lightweight daisy-like magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers via etching synergized template immobilization for enhanced rapid detection of trace 17β-estradiol

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials 2022-02, Vol.424 (Pt A), p.127216-127216, Article 127216
• Main Authors: Wang, Yue, Zhao, Wenchang, Gao, Ruixia, Hussain, Sameer, Hao, Yi, Tian, Jiahao, Chen, Shihui, Feng, Yunhao, Zhao, Yubo, Qu, Yuyao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 17β-estradiol; Adsorption; Ecosystem; Estradiol; High adsorption capacity; Humans; Lightweight molecularly imprinted polymers; Magnetic Phenomena; Magnetic separation; Molecular Imprinting; Molecularly Imprinted Polymers
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127216

17β-estradiol (E2), as one of the pharmaceutical and personal care product, frequently contaminates environmental water as estrogen pollutant and possesses great risk to human survival as well as the sustainable development of the ecosystem. Herein, to achieve an effective adsorbent system for the selective removal of E2 from the environmental water, Fe3O4 nanoparticles are subjected to chemical etching to reduce the overall mass and then employed as carriers to prepare a novel type of lightweight daisy-like magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (LD-MMIPs) adopting template immobilization strategy. The LD-MMIPs based etched magnetic nanoparticles not only exhibit light mass but also have plentiful imprinted sites in the etched channels, which significantly increases the adsorption capacity for E2. The daisy-like LD-MMIPs own strong magnetic responsiveness, well crystallinity, fast binding kinetics, high adsorption amount, and excellent selectivity. Moreover, combining with HPLC, the LD-MMIPs as adsorbents have been successfully used to specifically recognize and detect trace E2 in environmental water. Thus, the proposed LD-MMIPs with high adsorption capacity hold great potential in monitoring water pollution. Additionally, this work also provides an alternative strategy for improving the adsorption capacity of magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers through a convenient chemical etching technology. [Display omitted] •A novel type of lightweight daisy-like molecularly imprinted polymers was prepared.•Etching technology was first proposed to form lightweight magnetic materials.•Template immobilization strategy and etching technology were combined.•The imprinted nanomaterials have high adsorption capacity and fast equilibrium time.•Specific detection of trace 17β-estradiol from real sample was achieved.