Preparation and characterization of molecularly imprinted mesoporous organosilica for biphenol Z recognition and separation

Materials with large pore volume, fast binding kinetics and specific recognition are essential building blocks for sensors and assays. In this study, molecularly imprinted mesoporous organosilica (MIMO) was prepared by covalent surface imprinting methods with biphenol Z (BPZ) as template molecule and further characterized by FT-IR, TEM and N2 adsorption-desorption. Binding experiments results showed that MIMO has fast binding kinetics, good recognition for BPZ as compared to non-imprinted mesoporous organosilica (NIMO). Meanwhile, binding selectivity experiments demonstrated that MIMO had a high affinity to BPZ and BPA as compared to other structural analogues (BPS, catechol and resorcinol). Results demonstrate that MIMO has potential in sensor or separation application.