Absorption performance of iodixanol-imprinted polymers in aqueous and blood plasma media

This paper presents the preparation and absorption performance of iodixanol-imprinted polymers in aqueous and blood plasma media in vitro for biomedical applications. The imprinted polymers were prepared by non-covalent imprinting of iodixanol in a matrix of poly(4-vinylpyridine) crosslinked by ethylene glycol dimethacrylate. The binding capacities (BCs) were investigated as a function of template-to-monomer, as well as monomer-to-crosslinker, ratios in the polymerization, and the solvent type. The highest BC of iodixanols achieved from the optimized imprinted polymer in the aqueous solution is 284 mg g−1 dry polymer with an imprinting effect (IE) 8.8 times higher than that of the non-imprinted polymer. In blood plasma, the BC of this polymer is slightly reduced to 232 mg g−1 with a smaller IE 4.3 times higher than that of the control polymer. The BCs of molecularly imprinted polymers as a function of the initial assay solution concentration as well as the examination time are also addressed. Surface analyses were additionally performed to characterize the surface morphologies and porosities of synthetic polymers. This work has demonstrated the feasibility of molecular imprinting of iodixanol, and the observed absorption performance of the imprinted polymers is encouraging for biomedical applications.