Fabrication of a novel magnetic mesoporous molecularly imprinted polymer based on pericarpium granati-derived carrier for selective absorption of bromelain

Bromelain, a cysteine endopeptidase enzyme of great commercial value, has been widely used in food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. Conventional methods for purification of bromelain are still limited by a low binding efficiency, time-consuming process, and expensive equipment. Therefore, for selective absorption of bromelain, we developed a facile and effective method to fabricate magnetic mesoporous molecularly imprinted polymers using pericarpium granati-derived carbon as the carrier for the first time. The characterizations of the imprinted polymers indicated that a polydopamine layer was coated on the surface of the carrier and the crystallinity of the carrier did not change. The obtained imprinted polymers exhibited favourable saturation magnetization, a high adsorption capacity of 135.96 mg g−1, a fast equilibrium time, and satisfactory reusability. The imprinted polymers were prepared by an eco-friendly method and exhibited rapid separation and good adsorption performance, thus making the method applicable to biomacromolecular separation, proteomic analysis, and biomedical research.