Selective recognition of organic pollutants in aqueous solutions with composite imprinted membranes

In this work, thin-layer composite membranes imprinted with desmetryn or ibuprofen were prepared and studied for selective recognition of the template compounds in aqueous solutions. The imprinted membranes were developed using photoinitiated copolymerization of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulphonic acid and N,Nʹ-methylene-bis-acrylamide, in the presence of desmetryn or via copolymerization of dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate, and trimethylopropane trimethacrylate, in the presence of ibuprofen, followed by deposition of the imprinted layers on the surface of porous microfiltration supports of various chemical nature. Atomic force microscopy was used to study the surface morphological characteristics of the developed membranes. Molecularly recognition properties of imprinted membranes were evaluated by measuring their capability to bind the template molecules from polycomponent aqueous solutions. It was shown that obtained membranes may be used as selective recognising elements of portative differential capacitor sensor device for express monitoring of the target molecules in water. The sensor performance is based on registration of the alteration of dielectric permeability of composite imprinted membrane at selective binding of template molecules, when the analyzed feed solution is filtered through the membrane sample.