Synthesis of Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Nanoparticles for Removal of Sudan III Dye

Abstract

Molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) nanoparticles of Sudan III dye as template were synthesized by using non-covalent approach. The molecularly imprinted polymers were synthesized in a microemulsion contained Sudan III as a template, acrylic acid (AA) as a monomer, 1,4-butanediol dimethacrylate as a cross-linker and 2,2-azo-bisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as an initiator. The synthesized beads were characterized by TEM and FTIR. The TEM results revealed the nanosize beads of polymers were produced. The efficiency of imprinted and non-imprinted polymers was evaluated by batch binding studies. The results showed that the MIP 3 (0.1: 6: 10, Sudan III: AA: 1,4-butanediol dimethacrylate) was best among all polymers with highest rebinding efficiency. The removal efficiency of selected MIP 3 in the spiked Sudan III dye river water sample was about 80%. This study was conducted to produce nanosized molecularly imprinted polymers by using microemulsion polymerization technique.