title: Surface modification of imprinted polymer microspheres with ultrathin hydrophilic shells to improve selective recognition of glutathione in aqueous media.
abstract: A universal, effective approach addressing the classical limitations of hydrophobic molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) microspheres was described. Two water-compatible MIP microspheres with ultrathin hydrophilic shells were synthesized by controllable surface-graft polymerization using a charged monomer (methacrylic acid) and uncharged monomer (N-isopropylacrylamide) as the hydrophilic functional monomers for the recognition of glutathione in the aqueous medium. The morphological and chemical characteristics of the as-prepared water-compatible MIP microspheres were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and contact angle measurements. Their selective recognition properties were investigated by static binding tests and compared with those of the ungrafted MIP microspheres. The results of this study showed that the both as-prepared water-compatible MIP microspheres effectively decreased non-specific binding and enhanced the imprinting factor significantly, and the water-compatible MIP microspheres prepared using N-isopropylacrylamide as monomer exhibited a more remarkable recognition property. In addition, the thickness of surface-grafted hydrophilic layer was well controlled by adjusting the irradiation time to obtain the excellent recognition property. Finally, the applicability of the as-prepared water-compatible MIP microspheres as solid-phase extraction materials was investigated by competitive binding tests using a mixture of glutathione and its analogs.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Space Applied Physics and Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Natural and Applied Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shanxi 710072, China. Electronic address: songrenyuan0726@163.com.
authors.forename: Renyuan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Space Applied Physics and Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Natural and Applied Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shanxi 710072, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Space Applied Physics and Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Natural and Applied Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shanxi 710072, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Space Applied Physics and Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Natural and Applied Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shanxi 710072, China.
authors.forename: Ji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Space Applied Physics and Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Natural and Applied Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shanxi 710072, China.
authors.forename: Chunbao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Space Applied Physics and Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Natural and Applied Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shanxi 710072, China.
authors.forename: Liwei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Space Applied Physics and Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Natural and Applied Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shanxi 710072, China.
authors.forename: Chaoli
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D005978:Glutathione / Q000737:chemistry*; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008863:Microspheres; D054802:Molecular Imprinting / Q000379:methods*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D014867:Water; D005978:Glutathione
keywords: Controllable surface-graft polymerization; Glutathione; Hydrophilic shell; Molecularly imprinted polymer; Selective recognition