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Development of molecularly imprinted polymeric nanofibers by electrospinning and applications to pesticide adsorption
Author(s) -
Ruggieri F.,
D'Archivio A. A.,
Camillo D.,
Lozzi L.,
Maggi M. A.,
Mercorio R.,
Santucci S.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of separation science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.72
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1615-9314
pISSN - 1615-9306
DOI - 10.1002/jssc.201500033
Subject(s) - freundlich equation , nanofiber , molecularly imprinted polymer , electrospinning , adsorption , polymer , chemical engineering , langmuir , polystyrene , molecular imprinting , sorption , chemistry , materials science , polymer chemistry , organic chemistry , nanotechnology , selectivity , engineering , catalysis
Novel polystyrene‐based molecularly imprinted polymer nanofibers were synthesized through the electrospinning technique. The molecularly imprinted polymers were prepared using a non‐covalent approach and atrazine as template. For comparison, nonimprinted polymer nanofibers were also synthesized. The morphology of the synthesized nanofibers was characterized using scanning electron microscopy. The adsorption of pesticides, atrazine, atrazine desisopropyl, atraton, carboxin, linuron, and chlorpyrifos was studied under equilibrium (batch) conditions. To describe the adsorption capability of the synthesized polymers, Langmuir and Freundlich models were used. The Freundlich model provided a better mathematical approximation of the sorption characteristic for polymers nanofibers. To evaluate the adsorption capacity in the presence of interferents experiments on river water samples spiked with a mixture of six pesticides were also performed. The results obtained for the highest concentration levels investigated, show a greater amount of pesticide adsorbed on molecularly imprinted polymers and non‐imprinted polymers compared to those obtained using commercial stationary phases used as reference.