Fluorescent nano-particles prepared by eATRP combined with self-assembly imprinting technology

A novel amphiphilic photoreactive block copolymer was synthesized by electrochemically mediated atom transfer radical polymerization (eATRP) of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), N-vinyl carbazole (VK) with polyethylene glycol-based initiator (PEG-Br). And then the double bond and the boric acid group were introduced through the epoxy group. Fluorescent molecularly imprinted nanoparticles (nano-FMIPs) were prepared using self-assembly imprinting technology with PEG-b-P(GMA-co-VK) as a functional monomer and sialic acid (SA) as a template molecule. The nano-FMIPs prepared by this method have the advantages of uniform size and small particle size, which greatly improves their recognition performance. It is found that the SA template can significantly quench the fluorescence intensity of nano-FMIPs linearly within a concentration range of 4 x 10(-4)-4 x 10(-6) mol L-1, which is well described by Stern-Volmer equation. The nano-FMIPs can selectively and sensitively detect down to 2.9 mu M of SA concentration. This study provides a new and general strategy for the preparation of nano-MIPs with high selective recognition ability in aqueous media, which has good application prospects in biomedicine.