Fabrication of micron-sized BSA-imprinted polymers with outstanding adsorption capacity based on poly(glycidyl methacrylate)/polystyrene (PGMA/PS) anisotropic microspheres

Monodisperse poly(glycidyl methacrylate)/polystyrene (PGMA/PS) anisotropic microspheres have been fabricated by seed polymerization. From the SEM images, it is known that the obtained PGMA/PS microspheres have three different morphologies: raspberry-shaped, golf-shaped and porous structures. Based on the successful fabrication of these micropheres, bovine serum albumin (BSA)-imprinted PGMA/PS microspheres were fabricated via dopamine auto-polymerization in alkaline solution. Because dopamine does not affect the validity of the protein structure, the imprinted cavity structure on the surface of the MIPs can match the template protein molecules completely. The obtained micron-sized BSA-imprinted PGMA/PS microspheres have an excellent saturation adsorption capacity (Q = 72.7 mg g−1) and good selective adsorption for BSA (IF = 4.6).