Dummy molecularly imprinted polymers as the coating of stir bar for sorptive extraction of bisphenol A in tap water

A unique stir bar coated with dummy molecularly imprinted polymers for bisphenol A was prepared by sol-gel technique. The scanning electron microscopic image of the coating presented a homogeneous surface with a thickness of about 57 ± 2.5 μm. The Fourier transform infrared spectrum of the coating proved the incorporating of dummy molecularly imprinted polymers with the sol-gel network. When used to extract bisphenol A from aqueous solution containing bisphenol A and its three analogs (4-tert-butylphenol, 4,4′-dihydroxybiphenyl, and 3,3′,5,5′-tetrabromo-bisphenol A). Dummy molecularly imprinted polymers-coated stir bar showed better selectivity than the bars coated with polydimethylsiloxane or non-imprinted polymers. The extraction conditions including stirring speed, pH, and extraction time were optimized. After back extraction with methanol, the extracts were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection. The linear range was 0.0228–0.456 ng/mL with correlation coefficient of 0.9994 and the detection limit was about 5.70 × 10 −3 ng/mL based on three times ratio of signal-to-noise. The method was applied to the determination of trace bisphenol A in tap water.