Synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymer by suspension polymerization for selective extraction of p-hydroxybenzoic acid from water

Molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for selective extraction of p -hydroxybenzoic acid ( p -HB) was synthesized by suspension polymerization using p -HB as template, 4-vinyl pyridine as functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as crosslinker. As characterized by scanning electron microscopy, the MIP particles are spherical, with size ranging from 1 to 8 μm. Compared with the non-imprinted polymer (NIP), the MIP shows higher binding capacity toward p -HB: maximum binding capacity for p -HB being 8.07 μmol g −1 over MIP and 3.88 μmol g −1 over NIP. The adsorption of p -HB on MIP follows the Freundlich model and displays pseudo-second-order kinetics. The results of selective and competitive binding experiments confirm that the molecularly imprinted sites have excellent recognition ability toward p -HB. The results reveal that the MIP is a promising adsorbent for selective extraction of p -HB from water samples. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136 , 46984.