Molecular Imprinting Technology in Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) Sensors

Molecular Imprinting Technology (MIT) is a technique to design artificial receptors with a predetermined selectivity and specificity for a given analyte, which can be used as ideal materials in various application fields. Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs), the polymeric matrices obtained using the imprinting technology, are robust molecular recognition elements able to mimic natural recognition entities, such as antibodies and biological receptors, useful to separate and analyze complicated samples such as biological fluids and environmental samples. The scope of this review is to provide a general overview on MIPs field discussing first general aspects in MIP preparation and then dealing with various application aspects. This review aims to outline the molecularly imprinted process and present a summary of principal application fields of molecularly imprinted polymers, focusing on chemical sensing, separation science, drug delivery and catalysis. Some significant aspects about preparation and application of the molecular imprinting polymers with examples taken from the recent literature will be discussed. Theoretical and experimental parameters for MIPs design in terms of the interaction between template and polymer functionalities will be considered and synthesis methods for the improvement of MIP recognition properties will also be presented.

Molecular imprinted polymer is an artificial receptor made by imprinting molecules of a template in a polymer matrix followed by removing the template molecules via thorough washing to give the permanent template grooves. They show favored affinity to the template molecule compared to other molecules, and this property is the basic driving force for such diverse application of this techniques. Such techniques have been increasingly employed in a wide scope of applications such as chromatography, sample pretreatment, purification, catalysts, sensors, and drug delivery, etc., mostly in bioanalytical areas. A major part of them is related to development of new stationary phases and their application in chromatography and sample pretreatment. Embodiments of molecular imprinted polymer materials have been carried out in a variety of forms such as irregularly ground particles, regular spherical particles, nanoparticles, monoliths in a stainless steel or capillary column, open tubular layers in capillaries, surface attached thin layers, membranes, and composites, etc. There have been numerous review articles on molecular imprinted polymer issues. In this special review, the reviews in recent ca. 10 years will be categorized into several subgroups according to specified topics in separation science, and each review in each subgroup will be introduced in the order of date with brief summaries and comments on new developments and different scopes of prospects. Brief summaries of each categories and conclusive future perspectives are also given. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.