I wanted to use silica as support material for molecular imprinting. I wanted to skip the method of silynation and activation of silica. I prefered the readily available functionalized one. I search for different functionalized silica. I found the 3-(ethylenediamino) propyl functionalized silica gel. I am not sure if it is possible to do molecular imprinting on its surface. I hope I can have answers. I also hope to have more suggestions of what to use instead of doing the lengthy functionalization. Thanks a lot.
It depends on the coating material. What polymer are you going to coat on the functionalized silica? And what is the template?
In case you are going to use vinyl monomers to do free-radical polymerization reaction, I would say you should order functionalized silica with vinyl end groups (i.e. vinyl terminated), although there are reports have used amino-functionalzed silica. Howbeit, it depends on the coating monomers and the template!
Thank you for the very helpful answers. I will be using methacrylic acid (MAA) as monomer, and a secondary amine as template.
Well, you can use 3-(ethylenediamino) propyl functionalized silica. MAA may attach to the silica surface via electrostatic forces, then it can be polymerized through a free radical reaction. Or you can anchor an initiator to the surface and do "grafting from". However, for a facile surface molecularly imprinted polymer, I suggest using a Vinyl functionalized silica. The only short come will be the free polymerization of MAA in the solution in parallel with the surface polymerization. The core/shell can be separated from the freely polymerized MAA (i.e. MAA without the silica core) via a simple sedimentation process.
By the way, as you are aware, besides MAA the reaction needs a crosslinker such as EGDMA!
Does this mean if I will not used vinyl functionalized silica, there will be a tendency that MAA will free polymerized not on the surface of silica as expected?
Sir: If you wouldn't mind, do you know in particular of a commercially available Vinyl functionalized silica, more approproriate to be used?
Yes, I will also be using EGDMA. Thank you very much.
- Badges
- Science method
- Similar topics
- Biological Science
- Ecology