Synthesis techniques of molecularly imprinted polymer composites

Abstract

Molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) composites are defined as materials composed of at least two compounds: one of them is a MIP and the other one is chosen depending on the additional properties needed for the final composites. Different materials could be coupled to MIPs, such as magnetic nanoparticles, silica particles, graphene oxide, multiwalled carbon nanotubes, quantum dots, etc. MIP composites have been widely synthesized by conventional thermal heating. Nevertheless, this methodology faces some drawbacks, mainly related to the long synthesis time and the excess of internal energy the system reaches. To solve this, several synthesis techniques were developed to overcome these drawbacks, improve the properties of MIP composites, and enlarge their applications for many templates. Among the techniques developed, photopolymerization, microwave-assisted synthesis, ultrasound-assisted synthesis, and electro-polymerization can be found. This chapter concisely presents an overview of the synthesis techniques of MIPs and MIP composites. It describes their basic principles and some factors that affect the synthesis of MIP composites. Besides, the advantages and drawbacks of each technique are presented and discussed.