Evaluation of a new water‐compatible hybrid molecularly imprinted polymer combined with restricted access for the selective recognition of folic acid in binding assays

This article deals with the synthesis of an organic?inorganic hybrid molecularly imprinted poly(methacrylic acid‐trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate)/SiO₂ combined with restricted access. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy, Thermogravimetric Analysis, and textural data were used to characterize the structure of material. Higher selectivity was obtained for the molecularly imprinted polymer with restricted access when compared to nonimprinted polymer with restricted access, confirming the imprinting effect. The folic acid sorption for the polymers molecularly imprinted with restricted access, nonimprinted with restricted access, and molecularly imprinted, exhibited the following values of 5.6, 4.5, and 4.8 mg g^?1, respectively. Kinetic experimental data were very well adjusted to Elovich and pseudo‐second‐order models, which suggest that the sorption of folic acid takes place in binding sites with different energies. The obtained values of enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs free energy of ?12.79 kJ mol^?1, ?36.38 K^?1 J mol^?1, and ?1.76 kJ mol^?1, respectively, showed that the sorption of folic acid onto molecularly imprinted polymer combined with restricted access occurs spontaneously, is of both exothermic and of physical nature with an increase of ordering at the solid?solution interface. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43463.