Molecular Imprinted Poly-Cyclodextrin for Selective Removal of Dibutyl Phthalate

Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) is a potential endocrine disrupting chemical present in environment and designing adsorbent with its molecular imprints for the selective removal is critical for purification of contaminated water/soil. Here we report α-cyclodextrin-based porous polymer with the molecular imprint of DBP that can be used for its selective removal. The synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymer involves cross-linking of α-cyclodextrin under the host-guest complexation condition between α-cyclodextrin and DBP where DBP govern the mutual orientation of cyclodextrin during the polymerisation process. DBP is then removed after polymerization and the resultant polymer with molecular imprints of DBP exhibit higher binding affinity towards DBP as compared to its non-imprinted counterpart, with the imprinting factor of 2.5. The molecular imprinted poly-cyclodextrin can be used for selective removal of DBP in contaminated water in presence of its structural analogues. This approach can be extended for prepara...