Thermo-responsive and magnetic molecularly imprinted Fe3O4@carbon nanospheres for selective adsorption and controlled release of 2,4,5-trichlorophenol

•Fe3O4@carbon nanospheres were synthetized via coating a glucose layer onto the surface of Fe3O4.•TMMIPs based on Fe3O4@carbon were prepared with NIPAM as the thermal-responsive monomer.•TMMIPs possessed of acidoresistance, controlled release and high selectivity.

Thermal-responsive and magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (TMMIPs) based on Fe3O4@carbon (Fe3O4@C) were prepared by free radical polymerization and applied to selective adsorption and controlled release of 2,4,5-trichlorophenol (2,4,5-TCP) from aqueous solution. TMMIPs were composed of multilayer structure, and exhibited magnetic sensitivity, magnetic stability and thermal stability (especially below the. The reversible transform of mean diameter resulted from the change of testing temperature, indicating the thermo-responsive properties of TMMIPs. Selective adsorption and controlled release of 2,4,5-TCP were also investigated at 25 °C and higher temperature (such as 45 °C and 60 °C), respectively.

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