Highly selective detection of oil spill polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using molecularly imprinted polymers for marine ecosystems

Im*plications due to oil spills on marine ecosystems have created a great interest toward developing more efficient and selective materials for oil spill toxins detection and remediation. This research paper highlights the application of highly efficient molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) adsorbents based on a newly developed functional crosslinker (N,O-bismethacryloyl ethanolamine, NOBE) for detection of highly toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in seawater. The binding capacity of MIP for oil spill toxin pyrene is 35 mg/g as compared to the value of 3.65 mg/g obtained using a non-imprinted polymer (NIP). The selectivity of all three high molecular weight PAHs (pyrene, chrysene and benzo[a]pyrene) on the NOBE-MIP shows an excellent selective binding with only 5.5% and 7% cross-reactivity for chrysene and benzo[a]pyrene, respectively. Not only is this particularly significant because the rebinding solvent is water, which is known to promote non-selective hydrophobic interactions; the binding remains comparable under salt-water conditions. These selective and high capacity adsorbents will find wide application in industrial and marine water monitoring/remediation.