Preparation of a magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer using g-C3N4-Fe3O4 for atrazine adsorption

We present a novel magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (MMIP) using g-C3N4-Fe3O4 as the support for the adsorption of atrazine. The prepared MMIP was characterized, and the adsorption of pesticides, atrazine, ametryn, atraton, and hexazinone, was studied. The results suggested that g-C3N4 was a thin single-layer structure anchoring Fe3O4 nanoparticles, and the imprinted polymer was coated on the g-C3N4-Fe3O4 surface. The adsorption isotherms showed that the MMIP had a higher adsorption and selectivity for atrazine compared with those of its structural analogs. A Scatchard analysis suggested that the MMIP contained high and low affinity binding sites. In summary, the results demonstrate that MMIPs can be used for the absorption and recognition of atrazine. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.