A novel polychloromethylstyrene coated superparamagnetic surface molecularly imprinted core-shell nanoparticle for bisphenol A

The superparamagnetic surface molecularly imprinted Fe(3)O(4)@MIP nanoparticles for bisphenol A (BPA) were prepared via surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (si-ATRP). The Fe(3)O(4) core was compactly encapsulated with a polychloromethylstyrene (PCMS) layer via mini-emulsion polymerization. Fe(3)O(4)@MIP exhibited superparamagnetic property with saturation magnetization of 25.2 emu g(-1). The BPA imprinted Fe(3)O(4)@MIP revealed specific selectivity and high affinity to the template BPA over structural analogues. Moreover, the surface-imprinted MIP nanoparticles showed good site accessibility for BPA. The compactly PCMS-coated Fe(3)O(4)@MIP maintained its response ability to a magnetic field at acidic and alkaline conditions. Fe(3)O(4)@MIP was used to determine BPA in tap water samples with good accuracy and precision.