Molecularly imprinted polymer foams with well-defined open-cell structure derived from Pickering HIPEs and their enhanced recognition of λ-cyhalothrin

•The molecularly imprinted polymer foams (MIPFs) were prepared.•Formation mechanism of Pickering W/O HIPEs and MIPFs were discussed in detail.•The void diameter and interconnectivity of the MIPFs could be optimized.•MIPFs demonstrated the excellent adsorption and enhanced recognition of λ-cyhalothrin as expected.

The water-in-oil Pickering high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) were firstly stabilized by hydrophobic silica particles with adding small amounts of nonionic surfactant Hypermer 2296. Then molecularly imprinted polymer foams (MIPFs) derived from Pickering HIPEs were evaluated as adsorbents for the selective adsorption of λ-cyhalothrin. The results of characterization indicated that MIPFs possessed open-cell structure, interconnecting pores, thermal stability, moderate hydrophobicity and mechanical robust. The adsorption capacity for λ-cyhalothrin were closely related with the morphologies of the MIPFs, such as void diameter and interconnectivity, which could be easily tailored by varying the parameters of Pickering HIPEs. The batch mode experiments proved that as-prepared MIPFs exhibited the excellent adsorption capacity for λ-cyhalothrin (46.10 μmol g−1 at 25 °C) and enhanced recognition towards λ-cyhalothrin over fenvalerate and diethyl phthalate.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide