“…In this regard, different Cu(II) IIPs have been developed over the years as promising strategies to efficiently and selectively capture Cu(II) from wastewater. Synthetic Cu(II) IIPs are usually prepared according to the succession of steps depicted in Figure 2 : (i) the complexation of Cu(II) ions with different monomers, such as AAm [ 48 , 49 , 50 ], AA [ 51 ], MAA [ 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ], methyl methacrylate (MMA) [ 56 ], hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA) [ 57 ], 4-VP [ 52 , 55 ], picolinic acid (PA) [ 56 ], MAH [ 57 ], itaconic acid (IA) [ 58 ], etc. ); (ii) polymerization of the formed complex in the presence of a cross-linker; and (iii) removal of the template Cu(II) ions after (co)-polymerization [ 52 ].…”