Preparation and characterization of hydrophilic molecularly imprinted microspheres for difenoconazole

Hydrophilic molecularly imprinted microspheres (HMIMs) for difenoconazole were prepared by precipitation polymerization using 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate (HPMA) as functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as cross-linker, azobisisobutyronitrile as initiator, and mixture of butanone and n-heptane (6:4, V:V) as solvent. The morphological particle sizes and structures were determined via scanning electron microscopy, laser particle size analyzer, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. The average particle size of HMIMs and hydrophilic molecularly non-imprinted microspheres (HNIMs) were 2.72 and 3.28 μm, respectively. Binding experiments were performed in distilled water to evaluate the adsorption capacity of the obtained microspheres towards difenoconazole. Scatchard model shows the maximum adsorption of HMIMs and HNIMs for difenoconazole are 65.04 and 56.97 mg g −1 . Langmuir isotherm presents Q max of HMIMs and HNIMs are 62.89 and 53.19 mg g −1 . Pseudo-second-order kinetic model displayed a good linear relation and illustrated that the adsorption process of HMIMs is belong to chemical adsorption. Selectivity analysis presented HMIM1 possessed highly specific binding sites for difenoconazole.