Abstract
Imprinting polymerization is an exciting technique since it leads to specific binding sites, which are the basis of a variety of applications, such as sensors, detectors, and catalysts. The specific binding sites are created using templates and then fixing the structure of the binding site with crosslinking. The literature review of imprinting polymerizations shows that the crosslinking density governs the physical properties of the resulting molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP). It is also a factor governing the capacity and the selectivity of MIPs. Reviewing polymer science data and theory, the crosslinking density commonly used in MIP synthesis is unusually high. The data reviewed here suggest that more research is needed to determine the optimal crosslinking density for MIPs.
Highlights
Imprinting polymerization is an exciting technique: By just adding one additional step to the synthesis of a common polymer, a material can be made specific to a chemical
This review looks at the imprinting polymerization literature asking the question: How can the most accessible imprinted binding sites be generated in a material? The data suggest that with a high crosslinking density, only surface imprinted sites can be accessed, reducing the possible binding capacity
There are always two major considerations when developing molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP): The capacity and specificity needed for the application in question
Summary
Imprinting polymerization is an exciting technique: By just adding one additional step to the synthesis of a common polymer, a material can be made specific to a chemical. One of the earliest applications that implemented molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) was the separation of chiral compounds using chiral solid phases in column chromatography [4,5]. The aim of this work is to analyze the effect of the commonly used crosslinking density in imprinting polymerization for a variety of applications. This will be accomplished by selecting current examples of imprinting polymerization and correlating the details of their syntheses with MIP capacity and polymer science data. Only a small number of studies of the vast imprinting polymerization literature will be used
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