Chapter 14 - Imprinted polymers and their application in optical sensors

Abstract

his chapter deals with molecular imprinting of polymers. Molecular imprinting is the process of template-induced formation of specific recognition sites (binding or catalytic) in a material where the template directs the positioning and orientation of the material's structural components by a self-assembly mechanism. The molecular imprinting approach exploits the formation of a complex between a template molecule and functional monomers, which is fixed by copolymerization with cross-linker into a growing polymer network. The typical recipe for molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) preparation includes mixing the target compound-template with a functional monomer and cross-linker in an appropriate solvent and polymerizing this mixture using ultraviolet or chemical initiation. The template can be extracted from the polymer by washing or by electrophoresis. Subsequent polymer grinding and washing yield polymer particles with receptor sites on the accessible surface. This chapter highlights current achievements and prospects for the development and commercialization of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) sensors that use optical detection for template recognition. During the last three years, more than fifty original papers and patent applications were published in the area of MIP sensors, with a significant proportion of these related to the development of optical sensors. Of particular mention is the development of a chemiluminescence chip for terbutaline. Further new important developments were the creation of fiber-optic luminescent sensors for chemical agents and room temperature phosphorescence.