Designing flexible aliphatic linker based molecular imprinted covalent organic framework for rapid and selective extraction and detection of trace zearalenone

Food and environment contaminations by zearalenone (ZEN) has aroused serious issues in public health. Sensitive and accurate detection of ZEN remains a daunting challenge due to complex interference and low residue in real samples. Herein, we report a novel molecular imprinted covalent organic framework with flexible aliphatic linkers (ALCOF-MIP) for rapid and selective extraction of ZEN in real samples. Flexible aliphatic linkers were employed to regulate the molecular conformation and enhance hydrophily, enabling ALCOF-MIP to possess high selectivity and fast kinetics for ZEN extraction. ALCOF-MIP with selective imprinting sites displayed the maximum adsorption capacity for ZEN (1250 mg g −1 , exceeding most of reported adsorbents). Furthermore, the ALCOF-MIP based solid-phase extraction coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography gave a wide linear range (1–500 ng mL –1 ), low detection limit (0.06 ng mL –1 ) and high precision (≤3.2 %). The recovery of spiked ZEN in real samples ranged from 90.7 % to 99.1 %. The proposed method is promising for monitoring mycotoxin residues and assessing food safety without matrix interferences.