Selective removal of dicamba from aqueous samples using molecularly imprinted polymer nanospheres

For the first time, uniform molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) nanoparticles were prepared using dicamba as a template. The MIP nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by precipitation polymerization using methacrylic acid (MAA) as functional monomer, trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TRIM) as cross-linker and acetonitrile as porogen. The produced polymers were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and their morphology was precisely examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The MIP nanospheres were obtained with the average diameter of 234 nm. Batch-wise guest binding experiments were carried out to determine the removal efficiency of the produced MIP nanoparticles towards the template molecule in aqueous solutions. The MIP showed outstanding affinity toward dicamba in aqueous solution with maximum removal efficiency of 87.5% at 300 mg.L^-1 of dicamba solution. The MIP exhibited higher adsorption efficiency compared with the corresponding non-imprinted polymer (NIP) as well as outstanding selectivity towards dicamba relative to the template analog in an aqueous solution. Moreover, effects of pH on removal efficiency and selectivity of MIP were evaluated in detail.