Synthesis of novel ion-imprinted polymeric nanoparticles based on dibenzo-21-crown-7 for the selective pre-concentration and recognition of rubidium ions

In this work, we report the first application of ion-imprinted technology via precipitation polymerization for simple and practical determination of rubidium ions. The rubidium-ion-imprinted polymer nanoparticles were prepared using dibenzo-21-crown-7 as a selective ligand, methacrylic acid as functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as cross linker, and 2,2'-azobisisobutyronitrile as radical initiator. The resulting powder material was characterized using scanning electron microscopy, which showed colloidal nanoparticles of 100-200 nm in diameter and slightly irregular in shape. The maximum adsorption capacity of the ion imprinted particles was 63.36 mu mol/g. The experimental conditions such as nature and concentration of eluent, pH, adsorption and desorption times, weight of the polymer material, aqueous phase and desorption agent volumes were also studied. Finally, selectivity of the prepared IIP particles toward rubidium ion was investigated in the presence of some foreign metal ions.