Characterization of molecularly imprinted composite membranes using an atomic force microscope

Abstract

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to investigate the surface structure of molecularly imprinted polyethersulphone (PES) membranes and to quantify pore size and surface roughness. Molecularly imprinted polymeric (MIP) membranes were developed using photoinitiated copolymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate as functional monomer and trimethylopropane trimethacrylate as crosslinker in the presence of adenosine 3 : 5 -cyclic monophosphate as template, followed by deposition of a MIP layer on the surface of (PES) microfiltration membranes. Atomic force microscopy images clearly indicate that a consistent increase in the degree of modification leads to a systematic decrease in pore size and an increase in surface roughness. These results show a good correlation with the filtration data of cAMP solutions. Thus, it was shown that direct AFM quantification of key parameters of imprinted membrane structure provide useful guidelines for the development of novel MIP composite membranes.

Protection of polymeric membranes with antifouling surfacing via surface modifications

“…Liu et al studied the modified smoother membrane surface and showed enhanced resistance to fouling in the aqueous solutions of humic acid, CaCO3 and silica [76]. The polyethersulfone membrane was modified by molecularly imprinted polymer and a good correlation between flux reductions versus roughness was seen [77].…”

Molecular imprinting science and technology: a survey of the literature for the years up to and including 2003

“…853,1366,1367 Hilal and Kochkodan grafted layers of cAMP-imprinted MAA-TRIM co-polymer onto polyethersulfone microfiltration membranes using BEE as photoinitiator. 1368 Their membranes could adsorb up to 37% of an unspecified amount of cAMP at 1.5 mL min À1 cm À2 but selectivity was not studied; however, AFM images of the membranes were recorded. Subsequently higher uptake of template was achieved by reverting to polyvinylidene fluoride membranes and optimizing the polymer composition 1369 and the membranes were shown to adsorb more cAMP than cGMP.…”

Composite Microfiltration Membranes Imprinted with cAMP

“…1. Thus the MIP polymer matrix should be rather rigid to preserve the selective cavity structure after the removal of the template [2,12]. An increase of crosslinking density reduces polymer chain flexibility and in that way provides improved stabilisation of the structure of selective cavity.…”

“…It was reported [10,11] that membranes prepared via immersion precipitation phase inversion in the presence of a template molecule, showed molecular recognition properties, however, membrane fluxes were rather low. Another approach towards preparation of high-productive MIP membranes by photoinitiated surface modification of commercial flux-optimized membranes was recently proposed [12,13]. In the present work we have expanded this approach to develop and to study separation properties of MIP membranes capable of recognising adenosine 3¢:5¢-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP).…”