Towards development of colorimetric test-systems for phenols detection based on computationally-designed molecularly imprinted polymer membranes

Abstract Colorimetric test-system for the express-control of phenols content in water was developed. The system consisted of free-standing molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) membranes which contained synthetic binding sites capable of phenol binding. The MIP membranes were obtained by co-polymerisation of a functional monomer (e.g. itaconic acid, 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid, acrylamide or methacrylic acid) with triethyleneglycoldimethacrylate and oligourethaneacrylate. Rational choice of the functional monomers was based on the results of computational modelling. The phenol-selective MIP membranes were used as a basis for the colorimetric test-system for measuring phenol in aqueous samples. Phenol molecules were selectively adsorbed by the MIP membranes and quantified using color reaction with 4-aminoantipyrine. The intensity of the membranes' staining was proportional to the phenol concentration in the analysed sample. The optimised colorimetric test-system based on MIP membranes demonstrated a low detection limit (50 nM), a wide working range — 50 nM–0.5 mM and an excellent storage stability at room temperature (12 months). As compared to the traditional methods of phenols detection the developed test-system is superior because of simplicity of operation, small size and low cost.