Pyrogallol-Imprinted Polymers: The Selection Of Monomers And Adsorption Studies

Abstract

Pyrogallol-imprinted polymers (PIPs) were prepared using molecular imprinting

: approach. Pyrogallol usually can be found in natural herbs plants such as Kacip Fatimah (Labisia pumila). In this study, pyrogallol has been used as a template molecule. Pyrogallol-imprinted polymers (PIPs) and non-imprinted polymers (NIPs) were synthesized via precipitation polymerization using three different monomers; methacrylic acid (MAA), methyl methacrylate (MMA) and 4-vinylpyridine (4-VP) in order to determine the most suitable functional monomer for adsorption of pyrogallol. The synthesized polymers were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Brunauer- Emmett-Teller Analysis (BET) and UV-Visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis). As the results, by increasing the adsorbent dosage, adsorption of pyrogallol onto the PIPs increased and the contact time is prolonged. Equilibrium adsorption isotherm studies are the study of binding properties and description of the interactions between adsorbent and adsorbate which give adsorption capacity of an adsorbent towards