Development of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) as a solid phase extraction (SPE) sorbent for the determination of ibuprofen in water

Ibuprofen is a well-known endocrine disrupter. In this study, highly selective molecularly imprinted polymers ( MIPs) with different morphologies were synthesized via precipitation and bulk polymerization of methacrylic acid (MAA) and trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TRIM) in the presence of ibuprofen as a template. Non-imprinted polymers (NIPs) were also synthesized via the same procedure in the absence of ibuprofen. Spherical and monolithic MIPs were obtained using different experimental conditions, and the spherical MIP was shown to have better sorption towards ibuprofen. The optimum sample pH, sorbent amount, sample volume, and sorption time were determined to be 8.0, 25.0 mg, 10.0 mL, and 30.0 min, respectively. A methanol water mixture (MeOH : H2O, 80 : 20, pH 3.0) was employed as an eluent with > 97% (+/- 0.8, n = 3) desorption. The MIP demonstrated high selectivity towards ibuprofen in the presence of naproxen and ketoprofen. The validity of the proposed method was checked via spike recovery tests using drinking and tap water samples. The method worked efficiently for both water types, resulting in the recoveries of 97.2% (+/- 0.3, n = 3) and 97.7% (+/- 0.2, n = 3).