Evaluation of the Recognition Characteristic of Nanostructured Eu3+-imprinted Polymer via Competitive Extraction of Different Metal ions in the Imprinted Polymer-Modified-Carbon Paste Electrode

In this work, a new method was proposed for the evaluation of recognition capability of the ion imprinted polymers based on competitive displacement coupled with indirect electrochemical detection technique. Nano-sized Eu3+imprinted polymer was synthesized using ultrasonic assisted suspension polymerization in silicon oil. Differential pulse voltammetry technique and carbon paste electrode, modified with the synthesized ion imprinted polymer (IIP), were applied for the evaluation of the rebinding characteristics of the IIP. A competitive substitution method was applied for the evaluation of recognition property of the IIP towards lanthanides and some other ions which were non-electroactive in traditional conditions. For this aim, Pb2 ions, included in the selective cavity of the Eu3+IIP, were replaced with Eu3 ions, reducing the differential pulse voltammetry signal of Pb2. Different factors such as extraction pH, IIP amount in the carbon paste electrode and competitive extraction time were evaluated and optimized. By the proposed method the recognition ratios and selectivity coefficients of the synthesized IIP for different lanthanides and some other ions were obtained.