Preparation of magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers based on a deep eutectic solvent as the functional monomer for specific recognition of lysozyme.

A magnetized molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was prepared via a surface-imprinting technique. An allyl-based deep eutectic solvent was chosen as the functional monomer to obtain the polymer for specific recognition of lysozyme. It was deposited on silica-coated magnetite nanoparticles. The structure of the polymer was confirmed by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and vibrating sample magnetometry. The maximum binding capacity of the imprinted polymer is found to be 108 mg·g-1, which is higher than that of non-imprinted polymer. Compared to reference proteins such as cytochrome C, bovine hemoglobin and bovine serum albumin, the MIP shows favorable selectivity for lysozyme. Besides, the imprinted polymer can be further used to specifically recognize lysozyme from the protein mixture and chicken egg white. Reusability studies demonstrate that the polymer can be recycled four times without significant loss of adsorption capacity. The LOD of the method is 12.8 μg·mL-1. The relative standard deviations (for n = 3) are 1.38% for precision and 2.76% for repeatability. Its facile synthesis, high adsorption performance and excellent selectivity to capture lysozyme make this polymer an attractive candidate to be applied in biomacromolecular purification. Graphical abstract Magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) based on deep eutectic solvent as functional monomer was fabricated and applied for the specific recognition of lysozyme. The MIP exhibits high adsorption capacity and excellent selectivity for lysozyme.