An Ion-Imprinted Monolith for in Vitro Removal of Iron out of Human Plasma with Beta Thalassemia

The aim of this study is to prepare an ion-imprinted monolith which can be utilized to remove Fe3+ from beta thalassemia patient plasma. Fe, as a template, was initially complexed with N-methacryloyl-(L)-cysteine methyl ester (MAC) to form MAC-Fe3+ (the complex monomer), which was then polymerized with hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) to constitude a Fe3+-imprinted poly(HEMA-MAC) monolith (PHEMAC-Fe3+) by bulk polymerization method. The template (FC3+) was removed from the polymer by 0.1 M EDTA solution. The specific surface area of PHEMAC-Fe3+ was found to be 35.2 m(2)/g, with a swelling ratio of 60.2%. A maximum adsorption capacity of 150 mu g Fe3+/g was observed with PHEMAC-Fe3+. It was determined that PHEMAC-Fe3+ possesses relative selectivity coefficients for Fe3+/Cd2+ and Fe3+/ Ni2+, which are 42.6 and 36. 1, respectively, times greater than nonimprinted monolith (produced in the absence of Fe3+, PHEMAC). The PHEMAC-Fe3+ monolith has been recovered and reused many times without a significant decrease in its adsorption capacity.