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Molecularly Imprinted Polymers

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Smart and Functional Polymers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 68

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
NEST, Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR and Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza San Silvestro, 56127 Pisa, Italy
Interests: biodegradable nanocarriers; MIPs; drug delivery; sensors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on the advanced topic of “Molecularly Imprinted Polymers” (MIPs), synthetic materials designed for selective molecular recognition with broad scientific and industrial relevance. We invite researchers to submit manuscripts showcasing the latest fundamental and applied studies on MIPs across diverse fields. Contributions may include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

- Design and synthesis of MIPs;

- MIPs for separation and purification processes;

- Sensing and biosensor applications;

- Environmental, pharmaceutical, and food-related applications;

- Controlled drug release;

- Sustainability and life cycle analysis of MIPs;

- Scale-up and industrial implementation.

This Special Issue aims to serve as a comprehensive platform for scholars, experts, and practitioners to share original research articles, reviews, brief communications, and theoretical insights into MIPs, fostering an updated and multidisciplinary overview of these innovative materials. Editors welcome contributions that advance our understanding and application of molecularly imprinted polymers across scientific domains.

Dr. Mariacristina Gagliardi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • molecularly imprinted polymers
  • molecular recognition
  • sensor technology
  • separation science
  • controlled release
  • environmental applications
  • sustainable materials
  • life cycle assessment
  • analytical chemistry
  • material science

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

27 pages, 3772 KB  
Article
Preparation and Application of Sulfamethoxazole-Imprinted Polymer on Solid-Phase Extraction of Pharmaceuticals from Water
by Kristina Tolić Čop, Stjepan Jozinović, David Visentin, Dejan Milenković, Petra Vukovinski, Ramona Petko, Robert Vianello and Dragana Mutavdžić Pavlović
Polymers 2025, 17(23), 3203; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17233203 (registering DOI) - 30 Nov 2025
Abstract
Pharmaceutical compounds are small, invisible, and biologically powerful molecules that, due to widespread production and consumption, have become part of the environment, causing long-term adverse effects on biota even at low doses. Advances in sensitive and reliable analytical methods have made their detection [...] Read more.
Pharmaceutical compounds are small, invisible, and biologically powerful molecules that, due to widespread production and consumption, have become part of the environment, causing long-term adverse effects on biota even at low doses. Advances in sensitive and reliable analytical methods have made their detection possible in complex environmental matrices such as wastewater. Given the large number of synthesized pharmaceuticals with various therapeutic purposes, the occurrence of a synergistic effect is to be expected, interfering with their analysis. Therefore, the challenging analysis is often improved through the application of different sample preparation techniques. This paper includes the development of an SPE-HPLC-DAD method for the determination of eleven pharmaceuticals from water samples. To achieve better recoveries for the specified pharmaceutical (sulfamethoxazole) and possibly other components of the mixture, a sulfamethoxazole-imprinted polymer (MIP-SMETOX) was prepared and used in combination with a commercial sorbent (Oasis HLB) for MIP-SPE-HPLC-DAD. After optimization of the extraction conditions, both methods were validated. The LOD was 0.1 to 0.5 µg/L for SPE-HPLC-DAD and 0.1 to 0.25 µg/L for MIP-SPE-HPLC-DAD, depending on the pharmaceuticals. The matrix effect is different (77–196%) for both methods. A decrease in the signal for sulfamethoxazole (77%) was observed with SPE-HPLC-DAD, while MIP-SMETOX as a sorbent is not suitable for procaine (196%), and this is also the highest matrix effect. To extend the data obtained, additional in silico methods were used to gain deeper insights into the nature and strength of the binding interactions. Both methods (with and without MIP) confirmed their purpose by determining various validation performance features, and the final goal of the developed methods was tested using complex wastewater. The MIP-SMETOX produced justified its production, as the MIP-SPE-HPLC-DAD method is generally slightly better than the method using only a commercial sorbent. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecularly Imprinted Polymers)
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