METAL ION-IMPRINTED POLYMER PREPARED BY THE COMBINATION OF SURFACE TEMPLATE POLYMERIZATION WITH POSTIRRADIATION BY GAMMA-RAYS

Zinc ion-imprinted polymers were prepared by the combination of surfac e template polymerization and irradiation by gamma-rays. Dioleyl phosp hate, which has two C-C double bonds in the oleyl chains, and divinylb enzene were employed as a functional monomer and a cross-linking agent , respectively. After the surface template polymerization with water-i n-oil emulsions, the imprinted resins were irradiated with gamma-rays to make the polymer matrices more rigid and also to allow the function al monomer to attach firmly to the matrices. The irradiated imprinted resin exhibits a tremendously high selectivity toward zinc ions over c opper ions. Thus it is understood that the postirradiated imprinted po lymers are characterized by stable and highly specific recognition sit es. The combination of surface template polymerization with irradiatio n with gamma-rays offers a potential technique to construct highly sel ective molecular-recognizing polymers applicable to the adsorption of various water-soluble substances.