Fabrication of Multilayered Molecularly Imprinted Membrane for Selective Recognition and Separation of Artemisinin

Molecularly imprinted membranes with multifunctional layers for artemisinin separation and purification were fabricated on porous chitosan membranes. The molecularly imprinted layer was fabricated through an in situ activator generated by electron transfer–atom transfer radical polymerization method by using artemisinin as the templet molecule. Properties of the prepared materials were characterized by SEM, IR, XPS, EDS, AFM, etc. Adsorption ability and dynamics, permeation capacity, and reusability have been investigated. Results indicate that this kind of molecularly imprinted membrane possesses desirable adsorption ability for artemisinin (18.89 mg/g) and permselectivity factors (β) as high as 2.15 and 2.03 toward artemether and artesunate, respectively. Mechanism of selective adsorption and permeation was unveiled by molecular simulation, which indicates that the tailor-made recognition sites on the membrane possess higher interaction force toward artemisinin than artemether or artesunate, resulting in artemisinin adsorption by the membrane and separation of this drug from its analogues. The method developed here provides an environmental friendly and sustainable technology for separation and purification of natural products.