SYNTHESISOF CHOLESTEROL GRAFTED MOLECULALRY IMPRINTED POLYMER BY MEANS OF THE SILANATION OF MAGNETIC PARTICLES AND EVALUTAION OF FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

Nowadays usage of molecularly imprinted polymers which act as artificial
antibodies and separate target molecules from biological environments is a novel approach. Cholesterol
is one of the major risk factors of cardiovascular diseases and its precise determination is crucial. In this
research, a molecularly imprinted polymer by means of Fe3O4 nanoparticles coated with silica layer
was fabricated and its functional characteristics were investigated.
Materials & Methods: Co-precipitation method was used for manufacturing of magnetic Fe3O4
nanoparticles coated by silica. Then cholesterol imprinted polymer were synthesized by grafting coreshell
procedure. Finally obtained polymer was eluted by mixture of solvents to create specific adsorbent
active sites for cholesterol. The polymer was incubated with cholesterol stock solution and binding
activity was determined through high performance liquid chromatography. Structure and morphology
of samples were evaluated by FT-IR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy.
Results: Optimized ratio of polymer weight to cholesterol stock solution volume showed 94% separation
from 100 mg/L stock solution. FT-IR spectrometry results revealed a fine coating of silica for
magneticFe3O4cores.Silica band which was adsorbent of template molecule was intensified by sol-gel
polymerization method. Polymer morphology was porous, spherical shaped and particle dimensions
were observed less than 50 nanometers.
Conclusion: Application of Fe3O4 nanoparticles coated with silica in this method enables high
separation of cholesterol which could be due to ease of extraction and grafted polymer nature.
Morphology of adsorbent polymers indicated performance of nano surfaces in separation of this
compound