High-efficiency recognition and detection of sulindac in sewage using hydrophilic imprinted resorcinol-formaldehyde resin magnetic nano-spheres as SPE adsorbents combined with HPLC

Hydrophilic molecularly imprinted polymer for effective removal of pollutants from environmental water has attracted much attention due to their high selectivity and matrix compatibility. Herein, resorcinol and formaldehyde have been first proposed as the hydrophilic monomers to form water-compatible molecularly imprinted resin magnetic nanomaterials (Fe₃O₄-RF-MIPs) by adopting a two-step template immobilization strategy of surface molecular imprinting technique. In the synthesis process, carboxyl-modified Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles and sulindac were adopted as carrier and template molecule, respectively. The physical and chemical properties, preparation process, and adsorption conditions of Fe₃O₄-RF-MIPs were investigated in detail. Fe₃O₄-RF-MIPs exhibit uniform morphology, high crystallinity, outstanding magnetic property, fast binding kinetics, high adsorption capacity, satisfactory selectivity, and excellent reusability. Meanwhile, combining with HPLC, Fe₃O₄-RF-MIPs as solid phase extraction adsorbents have been successfully applied to specifically enrich and detect sulindac in sewage water. Accordingly, Fe₃O₄-RF-MIPs with ordered and evenly distributed imprinted sites and excellent dispersibility in water would be potential in the field of water environmental pollution control.