Computational design and preparation of water-compatible noncovalent imprinted microspheres

Herein, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) was used as a model template in a rational design strategy to produce water-compatible noncovalent imprinted microspheres. The proposed approach involved computational modelling for screening functional monomers and a simple method for preparing monodisperse and highly cross-linked microspheres. The fabricated non-imprinted polymer (NIP) and 2,4- d -imprinted polymer (2,4- d -MIP) were characterised, and their adsorption capabilities in an aqueous environment were evaluated. Results reveal that the pseudo-second-order kinetics model was appropriate for representing the adsorption of 2,4-D on NIP and 2,4- d -MIP, with R 2 values of 0.97 and 0.99, respectively. The amount of 2,4-D adsorbed on 2,4- d -MIP (97.75 mg g −1 ) was considerably higher than those of phenoxyacetic acid (35.77 mg g −1 ), chlorogenic acid (9.72 mg g −1 ), spiramycin (1.56 mg g −1 ) and tylosin (1.67 mg g −1 ). Furthermore, it exhibited strong resistance to protein adsorption in an aqueous medium. These findings confirmed the feasibility of the proposed approach, providing a reference for the development of water-compatible noncovalent imprinted polymers.