Fullerene Functionalized Magnetic Molecularly Imprinted Polymer: Synthesis, Characterization and Application for Efficient Adsorption of Methylene Blue

A magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthesized for the adsorption of methylene blue (MB). Magnetic particles were fabricated with fullerenes, which increased the surface area and provided a delocalized π-conjugate structure to enhance the hydrophobicity. A novel functional monomer with double carboxyl groups was designed based on the substituent reaction of methacryloyl chloride and iminodiacetic acid. The magnetic surface MIP was obtained with the functional compound as monomer, MB as template, and 2-vinylbenzene as crosslinker. The maximum adsorption amount was calculated to be 41.5 mg/g. The adsorption isotherm results revealed that this enrichment process followed Freundlich isotherm model and the adsorption kinetics could be well described with pseudo-second-order equation. The adsorption behavior was multilayer and mainly driven by chemical adsorption.