Synthesis of the artemisinin‐imprinting polymers on silica surface and its adsorption behavior in supercritical CO2 fluid

Molecular imprinting polymers (MIPs) for artemisinin were prepared by using 3‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane and calix4]arene bonded on silica particle surface as the functional monomers, tetraethoxysilicane as cross‐linker, and artemisinin as template. The MIPs were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscope and SEM. Their adsorption capacities were evaluated by static adsorption experiments. The MIPs showed high adsorption capacity and good selectivity for artemisinin. The maximum adsorption capacity of MIPs for artemisinin was 40.0 mg/g. The imprinting factor and the selective factor of the artemisinin‐imprinting polymers was 2.0 and 1.5, respectively. The imprinted film coating onto the silica surface showed a fast kinetics for recognizing and binding templates. Especially, mass transfer reaches the equilibrium within 3.5 h and the adsorption capacity of MIPs for artemisinin reached 120.0 mg/g in supercritical CO₂ fluid. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2011