Abstract
Drug residues, organic dyes, heavy metals, and other chemical pollutants not only cause environmental pollution, but also have a serious impact on food safety. Timely and systematic summary of the latest scientific advances is of great importance for the development of new detection technologies. In particular, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) can mimic antibodies, enzymes and other biological molecules to recognize, enrich, and separate contaminants, with specific recognition, selective adsorption, high affinity, and strong resistance characteristics. Therefore, MIPs have been widely used in chemical analysis, sensing, and material adsorption. In this review, we first describe the basic principles and production processes of molecularly imprinted polymers. Secondly, an overview of recent applications of molecularly imprinted polymers in sample pre-treatment, sensors, chromatographic separation, and mimetic enzymes is highlighted. Finally, a brief assessment of current technical issues and future trends in molecularly imprinted polymers is also presented.
Introduction
Food safety issues causing poisoning or death have become a major concern worldwide. Chemical pollutants, such as agricultural pesticides (Xiao et al., 2019), veterinary drug (Zhou et al., 2018), persistent organic pollutants (Ren et al., 2018), dyes (Im et al., ), and heavy metals (Rudd et al., 2016), usually have the characteristics of micro-toxicity, carcinogenesis, refractory degradation, and bioaccumulation (Liu X. et al., 2018; Rutkowska et al., 2018; Tarannum et al., 2020). Contaminants can enter the body through the food chain to cause skin, breathing, gastrointestinal tract, or systemic reactions that can lead to deadly anaphylactic shock that seriously threatens people's health (Ashley et al., ; Ghanbari and Moradi, ). At present, traditional detection techniques for ultra-low concentrations of chemical pollutants in complex samples include gas chromatography (GC), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and other advanced technologies (Jafari et al., 2009). Although these methods have high sensitivity and good reproducibility, the chromatographic analysis technology still has the disadvantages of expensive laboratory sample pretreatment, complicated equipment, cumbersome sample purification and preparation steps, long processing time, and high requirements for personnel training, which limit its application (BelBruno, ). Therefore, the development of new sample pretreatment and rapid detection technologies, accurate quantification of chemical pollutants, effective identification of pollution levels, and food safety are of important research value and significance (Lu et al., 2015; Carvalho, ; Piletsky et al., 2020).
In recent years, researchers have proposed to combine molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) with conventional detection methods and improve them to obtain highly selective and sensitive detection strategies. Molecularly imprinted polymers are molecules that selectively bind to templated molecules in manufacturing processes through a “lock-and-key” mechanism, involving analytical chemistry, biology, and polymeric materials (Wulff, 2002; Han et al., ). In particular, it attracted much attention in the 1977 after Wulff et al. (1977) reported molecular imprinting technology, which uses a specific target molecule as a template to bind to the monomeric form of MIPs. After removal of the template molecule and cross-linking, MIPs have selective recognition sites that are completely complementary to the template molecule in terms of shape, size, and functional group (Huang et al., ). Briefly, the synthesis of MIPs mainly involves three steps: (1) Template molecules and functional monomers combine via covalent or non-covalent interactions to form complexes (Figueiredo et al., ). (2) The composite is immobilized by adding crosslinking and pore-forming agents (Kupai et al., 2017). (3) The template molecules are eluted, leaving behind polymer template structures matching the target molecules in shape and structure (Ansell and Mosbach, ). Therefore, MIPs are highly selective for those target molecules or structural analogs. The target molecules are recognized via hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonding, van der Waals forces, or electrostatic interactions. MIPs have the characteristics of structure-activity predictability, specific recognition, and wide applicability (Huang et al., ; Sharma et al., 2012; Song et al., 2014; Wei et al., 2015; Lulinski, 2017; Ren et al., 2018; Yuan et al., 2018b; Erturk Bergdahl et al., ).
Figure 1 shows that the number of articles on MIPs published in the field of food science and technology and agriculture has been steadily increasing over the past 5 years, and it is very important to summarize the latest progress in this field in a timely and systematic manner to promote scientific progress. This review first describe the basic principles and production processes of molecularly imprinted polymers. Secondly, an overview of recent applications of molecularly imprinted polymers in sample pre-treatment, sensors, chromatographic separation, and mimetic enzymes is highlighted. Finally, a brief assessment of current technical issues and future trends in molecularly imprinted polymers is also presented. This research provides the necessary foundation for promoting the integration of MIPs and multidisciplinary technologies in the future, as well as for further development of MIPs with multifunctional applications.
Figure 1
The Synthesis Process of MIPs
The synthesis of MIPs is the most common method of production. Briefly, functional monomers interact with target molecules in solution to form a network of complexes with covalent or non-covalent interactions. Based on the rearrangement process between the target molecule and the functional monomer in the polymer, it can be mainly classified into three types of interactions: covalent, non-covalent, and semi-covalent (Canfarotta et al., ; Huang et al., ; Sposito et al., 2018; Wang H. et al., 2018; Bagheri et al., ).
(1) In covalent imprinting, reversible covalent bonds between template molecules and functional monomers are usually used to form stable polymers. The main advantage of this technique is to obtain a very uniform distribution of binding sites in the polymer (Chen et al., ).
(2) Non-covalent imprinting is the most common type of interaction and relies mainly on the formation of weak binding interactions between the functional monomers and the template in the pre-polymerized mixture, such as hydrophobic or hydrogen bonding, dipole, and ionic interactions (Ashley et al., ).
(3) Semi-covalent imprinting techniques include both covalent and non-covalent imprinting processes, and although the molecular imprinting process is polymerized in the form of covalent bonds, interestingly the target molecule binds to the monomer with non-covalent interactions (Ansari, ).
Functional monomers, crosslinkers and initiators are the three basic elements in the synthesis of MIPs, and some commonly used functional monomers, initiators, and crosslinkers are shown in Figure 2. Functional monomers play an important role in the synthesis of all molecularly imprinted polymers by forming specific complexes with templates through covalent or non-covalent interactions. In fact, the functional hydrogen bonds or active substituents provided by the functional monomers not only affect the affinity of the template to the functional monomer molecules, but also determine the mechanical stability and porosity of the polymer (Figueiredo et al., ; Singh et al., 2020). The preparation of molecularly imprinted polymers involves the formation of a complex when the functional monomer reacts sufficiently with the template molecule, followed by the addition of a cross-linking agent to immobilize the functional group of the functional monomer onto the imprinted molecule. Finally, a highly cross-linked rigid polymer is formed even after removal of the template (Chen et al., ). Figure 3 shows a typical process for the synthesis and recognition of MIPs. Typically, too low an amount of crosslinker decreases the structural stability of the polymer, leading to the shedding of functional monomers. In addition, an excessive amount of cross-linking agent reduces the number of sites recognized by MIPs. Currently, the vast majority of commercial cross-linkers are compatible with molecular imprinting, and a few have the ability to complex with templates, such as ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA). Currently, initiation methods can be categorized as thermal, photo,- and electrical initiation. The involvement of the initiator is required to ensure that the molecularly imprinted polymer proceeds as usual and to shorten the reaction cycle. This may even affect the material properties.
Figure 2
Figure 3
Method of Synthesis of MIPs
The increasing refinement of functionalized nanoparticles provides infinite possibilities for the preparation of MIPs. There are many approaches leading to the preparation of MIPs with different host-polymer properties, which can be broadly divided into three approaches: (1) synthesis with the aid of functional monomers with the involvement of templates in the reaction process (2) interconversion using polymer precipitates by introducing incompatible solvents or by evaporation of solvents from solution (3) obtaining polymers by means of soft lithography or surface stamping. The methods of preparation of MIPs based on different polymerization methods are shown in Figure 4. The methods evident in the figure are not exhaustive, but only present possible routes for MIP preparation. Other examples are also discussed in the text. Currently, how to continuously improve the methods and optimize the conditions by incorporating nanoparticles has become the focus of research for the preparation of new MIPs.
Figure 4

Preparation methods of MIPs based on different polymerizations.
Sol-Gel Method
The sol-gel method is one of the most common methods for the preparation of molecularly imprinted polymers due to its intrinsic conversion efficiency and material homogeneity at the molecular level, high solvent, and thermal stability, and one-step preparation process (Beqqali et al.,
Guoning et al. (
Figure 5

The principle and procedure for the preparation of MIPs (Guoning et al.,
Free Radical Polymerization
Free radical polymerization is initiated by monomeric free radicals containing unsaturated double bonds. Ontopolymerization is one of the most common and widespread methods of preparing MIPs by conventional free radical polymerization, which has the advantages of rapid and simple preparation without the need for complex and expensive instrumentation and purity. However, the whole polymer obtained by ontology polymerization must be crushed, ground, and sieved to the appropriate size, which significantly reduces production efficiency. In addition, grinding operations can result in irregular particle shapes and sizes, which can disrupt some of the high affinity binding sites. Ontopolymerization produces polymers with inhomogeneous binding site distributions, which greatly limits the use of MIPs as chromatography adsorbents. To overcome these drawbacks of ontology polymerization, various attractive polymerization strategies such as suspension polymerization (Zhou et al., 2018), emulsion polymerization (Abdollahi et al.,
Studies of selectivity and reusability are important for molecularly imprinted polymers, for example: Wang Z. et al. (2018) constructed a molecularly imprinted polymer@silver nanoparticle surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor by in situ preparation of silver nanoparticles in a bisphenol a molecularly imprinted polymer matrix. The in situ formed silver nanoparticles were uniformly distributed and tightly stacked in the matrix, which facilitated hotspot formation and analyte-silver nanoparticle affinity. The molecularly imprinted polymer@silver nanoparticle sensor shows good bisphenol a selectivity for structurally related molecules such as bisphenol AF (BPAF) and diethylstilbestrol (DES).This MIPs@AgNPs sensor has excellent sensitivity and a detection limit of at least 5 × 108 mol/L for BPA. This SERS sensor is easily regenerated by solvent washout and Sodium borohydride reduction was originally realized. This molecularly imprinted polymer@silver nanoparticle SERS sensor has the advantages of simple fabrication, selective identification, high sensitivity, and reusability, and has promising applications. Recently. Arias et al. (
Surface Imprinting
MIPs prepared by traditional polymerization methods often have the shortcomings of deeply embedded binding sites, incomplete template elution, facile template exudation, and slow mass transfer rates (Turiel and Martin-Esteban, 2010). Recently, MIPs have been modified on the surface or the outer layer of a specific carrier, so that most of the specific binding sites are externally distributed. This is conducive for the removal and recombination of template molecules, it reduces the “embedding” phenomenon and migration resistance of template molecules, and it improves both the amount of adsorption and the MIPS mass transfer rate (Carter and Rimmer,
Recently, a highly selective surface molecularly imprinted polymer (SMIP) was prepared on glucose-derived microporous carbon nanospheres (GMCNs) for the removal of phenol from wastewater by surface molecular imprinting technique was reported. Qu et al. (2020) used GMCNs with abundant pore structure and surface oxygen-containing functional groups as the carrier material, and the active layer was constructed by grafting the silane coupling agent 3-(methacryloyloxy) propyltrimethoxysilane, and the schematic of the preparation procedures was presented in Figure 6. The results showed that the excellent adsorption capacity and selectivity of 4-VP/SMIP provided a feasible method for the effective separation of phenol from wastewater. Similarly, Liu et al. (2015) prepared magnetic MIPs (MMIPs) with good specificity and high adsorption capacity via surface molecular imprinting with magnetic C3N4 nanoparticles as carriers and atrazine as a template. The surface of the polymer was rough, the average particle size was 2 μm, the magnetic properties were remarkable, and it exhibited highly selective recognition of atrazine pesticides. Qian et al. (2016) prepared molecularly imprinted thin layers on MOFs via surface imprinting and then modified the surface with a layer-by-layer self-assembly technique for the electrochemical detection of methomyl pesticide residues in pears. The linear range was 0.1–0.9 mg/L, and the detection limit was as low as 0.0689 mg/L.
Figure 6

Schematic diagram of the synthesis of surface molecularly imprinted polymers based on glucose-derived microporous carbon nanoparticles (Qu et al., 2020). Reprinted with permission from Elsevier. Copyright (2020) Elsevier.
Nanoscale Imprinting
Nanoscale imprinting is based on surface imprinting. A nanoscale molecularly imprinted polymer (Jiang et al., 2017) can be prepared by introducing nanoscale materials during the synthesis process of imprinted materials, or by directly using the materials for imprinting. Because nanoscale materials can greatly increase the specific surface area and physicochemical properties, the detection sensitivity of MIPs sensors will be improved, the linear range will be wider, and the detection limit will be lower (Canfarotta et al.,
Zhao et al. (2017) synthesized novel MIPs from silica-modified multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs@SiO2) by combining surface MIPs with the sol-gel method. Using phenol as a template, 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane as a functional monomer, and tetraethoxysilane as a crosslinking agent, the MIPs were grafted onto the surface of an MWNT. The maximum imprinting factor was 3.484. For the detection of 1, 4-dihydroxyanthraquinone, Nezhadali et al. (2016) prepared molecularly imprinted thin films on a carbon nanotube-modified carbon electrode via electropolymerization with pyrrole as functional monomer. Similarly, Zhu et al. (2020) established a sensitive, selective, and visual detection method for erucic acid (SA) based on Mn-ZnS-QDs and silica-coated graphene quantum dot molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) coated with double quantum dots (QDs) as a functional ratio fluorescence sensor (Figure 7). The polymers were synthesized by a simple one-pot sol-gel reaction with two fluorescence emission peaks at 580 nm, yellow fluorescence at the Mn-ZnS quantum dot, and blue fluorescence at 445 nm. SA selectively enhances the fluorescence of the quantum dots, but bursts the fluorescence of the Mn-ZnS quantum dots with MIPs@Mn-ZnS/GQDs@SiO2. The ratio of reduction was linearly related to SA concentration in the range of 9–81 nm, with a detection limit of 0.8388 nm (S/N = 3). The constructed fluorescent probe can also be visually detected based on color change.
Figure 7

Schematic illustration for the preparation of the ratiometric fluorescence sensors based on MIPs@Mn-ZnS/GQDs@SiO2 and for the SA detection and recognition (Zhu et al., 2020). Reprinted with permission from Elsevier. Copyright (2020) Elsevier.
Polymerization Techniques
Dummy MIPs
Molecularly imprinted polymers were used in sample pretreatment in early research, but with the development of research, many obstacles were created. For example: (1) The target analyte is consumed too much directly as a molecular template. (2) Functional templates and functional monomers do not have good stability during sample preparation. Nevertheless, in 1997, Andersson's group (Andersson et al.,
Bagheri et al. (
Figure 8

Schematic diagram of DMIP-Trimel Fluorescence Competitive Analysis (Du et al.,
Magnetic Molecularly Imprinted Polymer
Although MIPs have been excellent, some drawbacks are evident, such as the lack of electrocatalytic and conductive properties of MIPs, in order to increase its conductivity and repeatability, and thus introduced magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (MMIP) to immobilize nanomaterials as an effective way to update MIPs, the combination of magnetic nanoparticles and molecularly imprinted polymer prepared magnetic molecules. The imprinted polymer not only specifically identifies the target, but can also be rapidly separated from the substrate by the action of an applied magnetic field. MMIPs offer many superior properties compared to conventional MIPs, including simplicity of manipulation, rapid binding to the target analyte, magnetic susceptibility, and shorter pretreatment times. Recently, a number of methods have been improved for the detection of different compounds using magnetic electrodes.
Bagheri and Ghaedi (
Figure 9

The basic preparation procedure of MMIP (A) and the MMIP based MDSPE procedure for valsartan and losartan extraction (B) (Bagheri and Ghaedi,
Application of MIPs
As a novel polymeric material, MIPs exhibit a high binding capacity to target molecules and are characterized by unique recognition, good selectivity, and stable adsorption (Chen et al.,
Figure 10

Application of MIPs in various fields.
Sample Pretreatment
Sample pretreatment helps to eliminate matrix interference and to extract and enrich trace targets. However, conventional pretreatment can have time-consuming, tedious steps, and high reagent consumption (Płotka-Wasylka et al., 2016). Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop pretreatments with high selectivity and simple, time-saving, and labor-saving operations. Because MIPs have high specific recognition and selective adsorption for template molecules that can be subsequently eluted, they can be used as solid-phase extractants for specific enrichment and separations. The low cost, simple operation and high extraction efficiency stimulate wide use for sample pretreatment (Pataer et al., 2019). The comparison of different detection methods for chemical pollutants based on Sample pretreatment is given in Table 1.
Table 1
| MIPs | Analytes | Samples | Analytical technique | LOD | Qmax | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIPs/Fe3O4-C3N4 | Atrazine | Water | HPLC | – | 0.392 mg/g | Liu et al., 2015 |
| MIPs/SiO2 | Melamine | Milk | HPLC | 2.5 mg/L | 7.719 mg/g | Cheng et al., |
| MIPs/MWNTs-SiO2 | 1, 4-dihydroxyanthraquinone | Water | UV-Vis | – | 19.902 mg/g | Zhao et al., 2017 |
| MIPs/Borosilicate glass | Sulphonylurea herbicides | Rice field water | HPLC | 10.1–50.0 ng/L | 1.15 mg/g | Tang et al., 2014 |
| MIPs/Fe3O4@SiO2@C=C | Neonicotinoid insecticide Paichongding | Water | UV-Vis | 17.30 mg/g | – | Zhang et al., 2016 |
| Fe3O4@SiO2-MIPs | Melatonin | Portulaca oleracea | HPLC/UV | 0.046 ng/mL | – | Dil et al., |
| Double-template/MIPS | Fluoroquinolones/sulfonamides | Pork/chicken meat | HPLC | 1.0–3.4 ng/g. | – | Song et al., 2017 |
| DMIPs | Bisphenol A (BPA) | Sewage | HPLC | 0.0007–16.3 ng/L | – | Sun et al., 2018 |
| Tetrabromobisphenol A | Sludge | HPLC | 0–8.28 ng/g. | – | ||
| H-MIPs | Enrofloxacin | Fish | HPLC | 0.24 ng/mL | – | Tang et al., 2015 |
| DMIPs | Amitraz | Urine | HPLC | 0.56 ng/mL | – | Gholivand et al., |
| MIPS-film | Triazine | Grain/vegetables | HPLC | 0.04–0.12 μg/L | – | Hu et al., |
| Atrazine-MIPs | Triazine | Soil | HPLC | – | – | Xu et al., 2011 |
Comparison of different detection methods for chemical pollutants based on sample pretreatment.
Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE)
SPE based on MIPs, or MISPE, has been widely used in various solid phase extraction modes due to the structural predictability of MIPs, which allows them to form composites with various properties with other materials. Researchers have also conducted extensive experiments to synthesize better MIPs and have innovated the SPE method toward fewer steps, simplicity, economy, automation, miniaturization, time saving, and environmental friendliness and improved advantages (Arabi et al.,
To date, more and more researchers have prepared different kinds of MIPs as adsorbents in extraction technology to obtain higher extraction recovery. The method of combining MIPs with SPE is of great significance to identify and detect the residues of agricultural veterinary drugs in real samples (Zhang et al., 2016). For example. Arias et al. (
Solid-Phase Microextraction (SPME)
Since its introduction by Arthur and Pawliszyn (
In one example, Alipanahpour Dil et al. (
MIP-Based Sensors
MIPs have been used as recognition units in sensors that specifically bind to target molecules and output detection signals. MIPs are simple, short preparation processes, physicochemically stable, and specific. Therefore, it is feasible to use MIPs instead of antibodies as sensitive recognition units (Abdollahi et al.,
Table 2
| MIPs | Analytes | Samples | Analytical technique | LOD | Qmax | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIPs/MOFs | Methomyl pesticide | Pear | Electrochemical | 0.0689 mg/L | 3.217 mg/g | Qian et al., 2016 |
| MIPs/AuNPs | Ractopamine | Swine feed | QCM | 1.17 μmol/L | – | Kong et al., 2014 |
| MIPs-GO/GCE | Thiamethoxam | Grain | Electrochemical | 0.04 μmol/L | – | Xie et al., 2017 |
| MIPs/Fe3O4@SiO2 | Melamine | Milk | Fluorescence | 0.05 mg/L | 0.853 mg/g | Liu X. et al., 2018 |
| MIPs/SiO2-FITC | Cyhalothrin | Chinese spirits | Fluorescence | 9.17 nmol/L | – | Wang et al., 2015 |
| AuNCs@SiO2@MIPs | Bovine serum albumin (BPA) | Seawater | Fluorescence | – | – | Wu et al., 2015 |
| CQD-MIPs | Promethazine hydrochloride | Human plasma | Fluorescence | 0.5 μmol/L | – | Ensafi et al., |
| MIPs/Fe3O4-chitosan | Atrazine | Environment water | Fluorescence | 0.86 μmol/L | 0.709 mg/g | Liu et al., 2016 |
| MIPs/AuNCs@SiO2 | Bisphenol A | Seawater | Fluorescence | 0.1 μmol/L | – | Wu et al., 2015 |
| AuNPs@MIPs | Aflatoxins | Peanut/Corn | SPR | 1.04 pg/mL | – | Akgonullu et al., |
| CDs@MIPs | Sterigmatocystin | Cereals | Fluorescence | – | – | Xu et al., 2016 |
| CDs@MIPs | Cyhalothrin | Water | Fluorescence | 9.17 nmol/L | – | Wang et al., 2015 |
Comparison of different detection methods for chemical pollutants based on MIPs-Sensor.
MIP-Based Electrochemical Sensors
Today, MIPs can be used as the most critical recognition probes for the development of this sensor, but molecularly imprinted polymers as adapters for antibody substitutes also still belong to biometric components, which have high cost and poor stability, which also makes electrochemical sensors have shortcomings in terms of selectivity. Electrochemical materials immobilized on the electrode surface allow the preparation of solid-state electrodes, which will help reduce expensive reagent consumption, reduce costs, simplify the sensor assembly, and improve stability, reproducibility, and signal enhancement (Cui et al.,
Zhang et al. (2020) developed a highly selective molecularly imprinted electrochemiluminescence (MIECL) sensor for the determination of bisphenol A (BPA) based on molecularly imprinted Fe3O4 nanocrystals (MIP-Fe3O4/NCs) and luminescence. The synthesized MIP-Fe3O4-NCs were immobilized on the surface of glassy carbon electrode (GCE) to prepare the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) system. The GCE modified with MIP-Fe3O4-NCs can significantly enhance the cathodic ECL of luminol. After incubation in BPA solution, the imprinted sites on the surface of MIP-Fe3O4-NCs can specifically re-bind BPA and achieve selective and sensitive ECL bursting by hindering the electron transfer ability. The designed MIECL sensor has good selective, high sensitivity, and good accuracy and precision. Finally, the MIECL sensor was used for the sensitive and selective detection of BPA in fish and seawater samples, and the developed MIECL sensor was validated to have good analytical performance and has a broad application in the sensitive detection of BPA residues in aquaculture samples. Similarly, A graphene/molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor constructed by Xie et al. (2017) was used to identify thiamethoxam pesticide residues in cereals. To avoid imprinted films that were too thick, vinyl benzoic acid was used as a functional monomer to be placed as an ultra-thin imprinted film on the surface of graphene. The sensor exhibited thiamethoxam recognition with an imprinting factor of 2.36, a concentration range of 0.5–20 μmol/L, and a detection limit of 0.04 μmol/L. For imidacloprid detection, Kong's group (Kong et al., 2013) prepared an electrochemically imprinted membrane on a glassy carbon electrode modified with reduced graphene oxide by electropolymerization of poly (o-phenylenediamine). The linear imidacloprid detection range was 0.75–70.00 μmol/L, and the detection limit was 0.40 μmol/L.
MIP-Based Optical Sensors
MIP-based optical sensors have been one of the most preferred technologies by researchers, which has greatly broadened the field of sensors for MIPs due to the simplicity of preparation, low achievable detection limits, and good visualization of expected effects. Nowadays, with the rapid development of nanomaterial types, materials such as quantum dots (Bhogal et al.,
Recently, Wang et al. (2020) proposed a proportional fluorescence imprinting sensors (GQDs/CdTe@MIPs) to successfully construct a method for the identification and detection of oxytetracycline (OTC) in milk samples using precipitation polymerization, and the synthesis is shown in Figure 11. GQDs/CdTe@MIPs were established on the basis of precipitation polymerization with GQDs as the response signal and CdTe quantum dots as the reference signal, so that the GQDs/ The CdTe@MIPs have strong fluorescence stability and good sensitivity for OTC recognition. At the same time, due to the existence of corresponding recognition sites, the fluorescence color of GQDs/CdTe@MIPs changed significantly from blue to pink as the OTC concentration increased, enabling the visual detection of OTC.
Figure 11

The synthesis process of GQDs/CdTe@MIPs (Wang et al., 2020). Reprinted with permission from Elsevier. Copyright (2020) Elsevier.
Chromatographic Separations
The stationary phase using MIPs as molecularly imprinted separations is one of the most important components in the field of chromatographic separation research. In fact, it can be established and applied to sample pre-processing not only by “pre-concentrating” the analyte and eliminating matrix interference to lower the detection limit of the method, but also by removing interferents and/or pre-concentrating and/or deriving the analyte into a chemical more suitable for detection (Lobato et al., 2020). Where the sample matrix is complex and heavily contaminated, molecularly imprinted polymers can be used to achieve the appropriate selectivity and sensitivity. Currently, MIP techniques are combined with many different instrumentation and/or detection techniques to obtain optimal analytical parameters, including capillary electrophoresis (CE), gas chromatography (GS), and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and the separation in combination with MIPs provides more pronounced selectivity, high affinity, and rapid predictability compared to conventional chromatographic separation phases. This section focuses on the application of MIPs in the field of chromatographic separation in the last 3 years.
Rapid chromatographic separation technology, as an important means of organic concentration and sample purification, has the characteristics of large loading rate, good separation effect, and wide application range. For instance. Gao et al. (
Figure 12

Schematic illustration for the basic preparation procedure of MINs (Arabi et al.,
Mimics Enzymes
Enzymes catalyze biochemical reactions in vivo and in vitro with high efficiency and specificity. However, natural enzymes have poor stability and resistance, a low reuse rate; they are difficult to prepare and extract, difficult to preserve and transport and the catalytic reactions require appropriate pH and temperature. These issues have severely restricted natural enzymes in biochemical applications, agricultural production, food manufacturing, and analysis (Wang et al., 2016). MIPs have unique advantages in replacing natural enzymes. Molecular imprinting of recognition sites and reactive groups of enzyme active centers in the interior of polymers were used to obtain molecularly imprinted enzymes (Daoud Attieh et al.,
In 1987, Mosbach's group (Leonhardt and Mosbach, 1987) first synthesized molecularly imprinted enzyme mimics and applied them to the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl acetate. Subsequently, Liu and Wulff (2008) prepared MIPs with the catalytic activity of carboxyphthalase A by using transition state analogs as templates. The imprinted polymers rapidly catalyzed the hydrolysis of carbonic acid. Through the imprinting synthesis of substrate or transition state analogs of enzymatic reactions, catalytic and biochemical reaction mechanisms can be studied, and the enzymatic reaction can be controlled. Molecularly imprinted biomimetic catalysis resembles chemical catalysis, which simulates the principle of antigen-antibody interactions. It combines the characteristics of chemical catalysts and biocatalysts and has the advantages of more specific catalysis, mild reaction conditions, and high efficiency (Yuan et al., 2018a). For instance, Bagheri et al. (
Figure 13

Schematic diagram for the preparation of MIP@PtCu/PSS-Gr nanocomposite to detect puerarin (Guo et al.,
Conclusions and Perspectives
The development of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) has made considerable progress, and nanoscale MIPs, with remarkable binding properties and selectivity compared to conventional imprinted molecular polymers, can be used as solid-phase extraction materials for the separation and enrichment of chemical contaminants in sample pretreatment processes. In addition, MIPs are outstandingly resistant to high temperature and pressure, acid and alkali, recyclable, and easy to store, making them suitable as sensitive materials for sensors for the analytical detection of real samples. To date, MIPs have been developed from single templates to composite templates, and the preparation process has been continuously optimized to improve the application range, adsorption performance and specific selectivity. They have been widely used in various fields such as environmental pollutant analysis, food quality and safety, and biological sample separation and enrichment. However, there are still some problems to be explored and solved.
(1) MIPs usually show the best performance in hydrophobic organic solvents, which leads to the presence of polar solvents (especially water) in practical applications of MIPs that can seriously interfere with the formation of pre-polymerized complexes in the imprinting process and disrupt the interaction between the monomer and the template, which can be used in the future.
(2) The excellent performance of nanostructured MIP materials lies not only in their size, but also in their rapid equilibrium with the substance to be measured, but due to the difficulty of removing the template completely after the preparation stage of the highly cross-linked polymer (template molecule), MIP materials often suffer from problems such as template leakage, resulting in the preparation of molecularly imprinted nanomaterials with irregular particle shapes, different particle sizes, non-uniform recognition sites and low affinity.
(3) In the synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymers, there are limited varieties of functional monomers and cross-linking agents available, and the chemical reagents used are not only toxic, but also face problems such as high capital expenditure and low conversion efficiency, making it difficult to achieve mass production from laboratory to factory and unable to maximize commercial conversion.
Efforts to solve these problems never cease, and in the future, the combination of MIP with other porous or nanostructured materials may provide new approaches to develop chemical contaminants for use in food, and in particular, MIP/porous polymers and carbon nanomaterials will be a major breakthrough in the field of biotech sensors. In addition, the use of MIP in combination with different analytical instruments to artificialize detection systems is also an ideal goal that is constantly being pursued and may be realized in the near future.
Statements
Author contributions
GL and DX conceived and designed this review. MG wrote the paper. YG, GC, JL, XX, and XH revised the manuscript.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31701695), Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program of CAAS (CAAS-ZDRW202011), and the Special Fund for the Industrial System Construction of Modern Agriculture of China (CARS-23-E03).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
References
1
AbdollahiE.Khalafi-NezhadA.MohammadiA.AbdoussM.Salami-KalajahiM. (2018). Smynthesis of new molecularly imprinted polymer via reversible addition fragmentation transfer polymerization as a drug delivery system. Polymer143, 245–257. 10.1016/j.polymer.2018.03.058
2
AiJ.GuoH.XueR.WangX.LeiX.YangW. (2018). A self-probing, gate-controlled, molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor for ultrasensitive determination of p-nonylphenol. Electrochem. Commun.89, 1–5. 10.1016/j.elecom.2018.02.008
3
AkgonulluS.YavuzH.DenizliA. (2020). SPR nanosensor based on molecularly imprinted polymer film with gold nanoparticles for sensitive detection of aflatoxin B1. Talanta219:121219. 10.1016/j.talanta.2020.121219
4
AkhoundianM.AlizadehT.GanjaliM. R.NorouziP. (2019). Ultra-trace detection of methamphetamine in biological samples using FFT-square wave voltammetry and nano-sized imprinted polymer/MWCNTs -modified electrode. Talanta200, 115–123. 10.1016/j.talanta.2019.02.027
5
Alipanahpour DilEGhaediM.AsfaramA.MehrabiF.ShokrollahiA.MatinA. A.et al. (2020). Magnetic dual-template molecularly imprinted polymer based on syringe-to-syringe magnetic solid-phase microextraction for selective enrichment of p-Coumaric acid and ferulic acid from pomegranate, grape, and orange samples. Food Chem.325:126902. 10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.126902
6
AnderssonL. I.PapricaA.ArvidssonT. (1997). A highly selective solid phase extraction sorbent for pre-concentration of sameridine made by molecular imprinting. Chromatographia46, 57–62. 10.1007/BF02490930
7
AnsariS. (2017). Combination of molecularly imprinted polymers and carbon nanomaterials as a versatile biosensing tool in sample analysis: recent applications and challenges. Trends Anal. Chem.93, 134–151. 10.1016/j.trac.2017.05.015
8
AnsellR. J.MosbachK. (1998). Magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer beads for drug radioligand binding assay. Analyst123, 1611–1616. 10.1039/a801903g
9
ArabiM.GhaediM.OstovanA. (2016a). Development of dummy molecularly imprinted based on functionalized silica nanoparticles for determination of acrylamide in processed food by matrix solid phase dispersion. Food Chem.210, 78–84. 10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.04.080
10
ArabiM.OstovanA.BagheriA. R.GuoX.LiJ.MaJ.et al. (2020a). Hydrophilic molecularly imprinted nanospheres for the extraction of rhodamine B followed by HPLC analysis: a green approach and hazardous waste elimination. Talanta215:120933. 10.1016/j.talanta.2020.120933
11
ArabiM.OstovanA.BagheriA. R.GuoX.WangL.LiJ.et al. (2020b). Strategies of molecular imprinting-based solid-phase extraction prior to chromatographic analysis. Trends Anal. Chem.128:115923. 10.1016/j.trac.2020.115923
12
ArabiM.OstovanA.GhaediM.PurkaitM. K. (2016b). Novel strategy for synthesis of magnetic dummy molecularly imprinted nanoparticles based on functionalized silica as an efficient sorbent for the determination of acrylamide in potato chips: optimization by experimental design methodology. Talanta154, 526–532. 10.1016/j.talanta.2016.04.010
13
AriasP. G.Martinez-Perez-CejuelaH.CombesA.PichonV.PereiraE.Herrero-MartinezJ. M.et al. (2020). Selective solid-phase extraction of organophosphorus pesticides and their oxon-derivatives from water samples using molecularly imprinted polymer followed by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection. J. Chromatogr. A1626:461346. 10.1016/j.chroma.2020.461346
14
ArthurC. L.PawliszynJ. (1990). Solid phase microextraction with thermal desorption using fused silica optical fibers. Anal. Chem.62, 2145–2148. 10.1021/ac00218a019
15
AshleyJ.ShahbaziM.-A.KantK.ChidambaraV. A.WolffA.BangD. D.et al. (2017). Molecularly imprinted polymers for sample preparation and biosensing in food analysis: progress and perspectives. Biosens. Bioelectron.91, 606–615. 10.1016/j.bios.2017.01.018
16
AziziA.BottaroC. S. (2020). A critical review of molecularly imprinted polymers for the analysis of organic pollutants in environmental water samples. J. Chromatogr. A1614:460603. 10.1016/j.chroma.2019.460603
17
BagheriA. R.ArabiM.GhaediM.OstovanA.WangX.LiJ.et al. (2019). Dummy molecularly imprinted polymers based on a green synthesis strategy for magnetic solid-phase extraction of acrylamide in food samples. Talanta195, 390–400. 10.1016/j.talanta.2018.11.065
18
BagheriA. R.GhaediM. (2020). Green preparation of dual-template chitosan-based magnetic water-compatible molecularly imprinted biopolymer. Carbohydr. Polym.236:116102. 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116102
19
BagheriN.KhataeeA.HabibiB.HassanzadehJ. (2018). Mimetic Ag nanoparticle/Zn-based MOF nanocomposite (AgNPs@ZnMOF) capped with molecularly imprinted polymer for the selective detection of patulin. Talanta179, 710–718. 10.1016/j.talanta.2017.12.009
20
BarsbayM.GüvenO. (2018). Nanostructuring of polymers by controlling of ionizing radiation-induced free radical polymerization, copolymerization, grafting and crosslinking by RAFT mechanism. Radiat. Phys. Chem.169:107816. 10.1016/j.radphyschem.2018.04.009
21
BelBrunoJ. J. (2019). Molecularly imprinted polymers. Chem. Rev.119, 94–119. 10.1021/acs.chemrev.8b00171
22
BeqqaliA. E.AnderssonL. I.JeppssonA. D.Abdel-RehimM. (2017). Molecularly imprinted polymer-sol-gel tablet toward micro-solid phase extraction: II. determination of amphetamine in human urine samples by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. J. Chromatogr. B1063, 130–135. 10.1016/j.jchromb.2017.08.027
23
BhogalS.KaurK.MalikA. K.SonneC.LeeS. S.KimK.-H. (2020). Core-shell structured molecularly imprinted materials for sensing applications. Trends Anal. Chem. 133:116043. 10.1016/j.trac.2020.116043
24
BüyüktiryakiS.KeçiliR.HussainC. M. (2020). Functionalized nanomaterials in dispersive solid phase extraction: advances & prospects. Trends Anal. Chem.127:115893. 10.1016/j.trac.2020.115893
25
CanfarottaF.RapiniR.PiletskyS. (2018). Recent advances in electrochemical sensors based on chiral and nano-sized imprinted polymers. Curr. Opin. Electrochem.7, 146–152. 10.1016/j.coelec.2017.11.018
26
CaoY.HuX.ZhaoT.MaoY.FangG.WangS. (2020). A core-shell molecularly imprinted optical sensor based on the upconversion nanoparticles decorated with Zinc-based metal-organic framework for selective and rapid detection of octopamine. Sens. Actuat. B Chem.326:128838. 10.1016/j.snb.2020.128838
27
CarterS. R.RimmerS. (2004). Surface molecularly imprinted polymer core–shell particles. Adv. Funct. Mater.14, 553–561. 10.1002/adfm.200305069
28
CarvalhoF. P. (2017). Pesticides, environment, and food safety. Food Energy Sec.6, 48–60. 10.1002/fes3.108
29
ChenL.WangX.LuW.WuX.LiJ. (2016). Molecular imprinting: perspectives and applications. Chem. Soc. Rev.45, 2137–2211. 10.1039/C6CS00061D
30
ChenY.ZhouS.LiL.ZhuJ.-J. (2017). Nanomaterials-based sensitive electrochemiluminescence biosensing. Nano Today12, 98–115. 10.1016/j.nantod.2016.12.013
31
ChengW.LiuZ.WangY. (2013). Preparation and application of surface molecularly imprinted silica gel for selective extraction of melamine from milk samples. Talanta116, 396–402. 10.1016/j.talanta.2013.05.067
32
ChepyalaR. (2020). Applications and success of MIPs in optical-based nanosensors,in Nanofabrication for Smart Nanosensor Applications, eds PalK.GomesF. (Elsevier), 89–121. 10.1016/B978-0-12-820702-4.00004-0
33
ChiesaL. M.LabellaG. F.GiorgiA.PanseriS.PavlovicR.BonacciS.et al. (2016). The occurrence of pesticides and persistent organic pollutants in Italian organic honeys from different productive areas in relation to potential environmental pollution. Chemosphere154, 482–490. 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.04.004
34
ChiouJ.LeungA. H. H.LeeH. W.WongW.-T. (2015). Rapid testing methods for food contaminants and toxicants. J. Integr. Agric.14, 2243–2264. 10.1016/S2095-3119(15)61119-4
35
CuiB.LiuP.LiuX.LiuS.ZhangZ. (2020). Molecularly imprinted polymers for electrochemical detection and analysis: progress and perspectives. J. Mater. Res. Technol.9, 12568–12584. 10.1016/j.jmrt.2020.08.052
36
DaiH.XiaoD.HeH.LiH.YuanD.ZhangC. (2014). Synthesis and analytical applications of molecularly imprinted polymers on the surface of carbon nanotubes: a review. Microchim. Acta182, 893–908. 10.1007/s00604-014-1376-5
37
Daoud AttiehM.ZhaoY.ElkakA.Falcimaigne-CordinA.HauptK. (2017). Enzyme-initiated free-radical polymerization of molecularly imprinted polymer nanogels on a solid phase with an immobilized radical source. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl.56, 3339–3343. 10.1002/anie.201612667
38
DilE. A.DoustimotlaghA. H.JavadianH.AsfaramA.GhaediM. (2020). Nano-sized FeO@SiO-molecular imprinted polymer as a sorbent for dispersive solid-phase microextraction of melatonin in the methanolic extract of, biological, and water samples. Talanta221:121620. 10.1016/j.talanta.2020.121620
39
DuX.-W.ZhangY.-X.SheY.-X.LiuG.-Y.ZhaoF.-N.WangJ.et al. (2016). Fluorescent competitive assay for melamine using dummy molecularly imprinted polymers as antibody mimics. J. Integr. Agric. 15, 1166–1177. 10.1016/S2095-3119(16)61357-6
40
DuanH.LiL.WangX.WangY.LiJ.LuoC. (2016). CdTe quantum dots@luminol as signal amplification system for chrysoidine with chemiluminescence-chitosan/graphene oxide-magnetite-molecularly imprinting sensor. Spectrochim. Acta A Mol. Biomol. Spectrosc.153, 535–541. 10.1016/j.saa.2015.09.016
41
EnsafiA. A.KazemifardN.RezaeiB. (2017). Development of a nano plastic antibody for determination of propranolol using CdTe quantum dots. Sens. Actuat. B Chem.252, 846–853. 10.1016/j.snb.2017.06.078
42
EnsafiA. A.Nasr-EsfahaniP.RezaeiB. (2018). Synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymer on carbon quantum dots as an optical sensor for selective fluorescent determination of promethazine hydrochloride. Sens. Actuat. B Chem.257, 889–896. 10.1016/j.snb.2017.11.050
43
Erturk BergdahlG.AnderssonT.AllhornM.YngmanS.TimmR.LoodR. (2019). In vivo detection and absolute quantification of a secreted bacterial factor from skin using molecularly imprinted polymers in a surface plasmon resonance biosensor for improved diagnostic abilities. ACS Sens.4, 717–725. 10.1021/acssensors.8b01642
44
FigueiredoL.ErnyG. L.SantosL.AlvesA. (2016). Applications of molecularly imprinted polymers to the analysis and removal of personal care products: a review. Talanta146, 754–765. 10.1016/j.talanta.2015.06.027
45
GaoF.HuY.ChenD.Li-ChanE. C. Y.GrantE.LuX. (2015). Determination of Sudan I in paprika powder by molecularly imprinted polymers-thin layer chromatography-surface enhanced Raman spectroscopic biosensor. Talanta143, 344–352. 10.1016/j.talanta.2015.05.003
46
GaoW.LiJ.LiP.HuangZ.CaoY.LiuX. (2019). Preparation of Magnetic Molecularly Imprinted Polymer (MMIP) Nanoparticles (NPs) for the selective extraction of tetracycline from milk. Anal. Lett.53, 1097–1112. 10.1080/00032719.2019.1698049
47
GhanbariF.MoradiM. (2017). Application of peroxymonosulfate and its activation methods for degradation of environmental organic pollutants: review. Chem. Eng. J.310, 41–62. 10.1016/j.cej.2016.10.064
48
GholivandM. B.KhodadadianM.BahramiG. (2015). Molecularly imprinted polymer preconcentration and flow injection amperometric determination of 4-nitrophenol in water. Anal. Lett.48, 2856–2869. 10.1080/00032719.2015.1060598
49
GhorbaniM.AghamohammadhassanM.GhorbaniH.ZabihiA. (2020). Trends in sorbent development for dispersive micro-solid phase extraction. Microchem. J.158:105250. 10.1016/j.microc.2020.105250
50
GonçalvesL. M. (2020). Electropolymerized molecularly imprinted polymers (e-MIPs), perceptions based in recent literature for soon-to-be world-class scientists. Curr. Opin. Electrochem.25:10064010.1016/j.coelec.2020.09.007
51
GuoL.ZhengH.ZhangC.QuL.YuL. (2020). A novel molecularly imprinted sensor based on PtCu bimetallic nanoparticle deposited on PSS functionalized graphene with peroxidase-like activity for selective determination of puerarin. Talanta210:120621. 10.1016/j.talanta.2019.120621
52
GuoningC.HuaS.WangL.QianqianH.XiaC.HonggeZ.et al. (2020). A surfactant-mediated sol-gel method for the preparation of molecularly imprinted polymers and its application in a biomimetic immunoassay for the detection of protein. J. Pharm. Biomed. Anal.190:113511. 10.1016/j.jpba.2020.113511
53
HákováM.HavlíkováL. C.ŠvecF.SolichP.ŠatínskýD. (2020). Nanofibers as advanced sorbents for on-line solid phase extraction in liquid chromatography: a tutorial. Anal. Chim. Acta1121, 83–96. 10.1016/j.aca.2020.04.045
54
HanQ.ShenX.ZhuW.ZhuC.ZhouX.JiangH. (2016). Magnetic sensing film based on Fe(3)O(4)@Au-GSH molecularly imprinted polymers for the electrochemical detection of estradiol. Biosens. Bioelectron.79, 180–186. 10.1016/j.bios.2015.12.017
55
HauptK.MosbachK. (2000). Molecularly imprinted polymers and their use in biomimetic sensors. Chem. Rev.100, 2495–2504. 10.1021/cr990099w
56
HuX.HuY.LiG. (2007). Development of novel molecularly imprinted solid-phase microextraction fiber and its application for the determination of triazines in complicated samples coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography. J. Chromatogr. A1147, 1–9. 10.1016/j.chroma.2007.02.037
57
HuangS.XuJ.ZhengJ.ZhuF.XieL.OuyangG. (2018). Synthesis and application of magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers in sample preparation. Anal. Bioanal. Chem.410, 3991–4014. 10.1007/s00216-018-1013-y
58
HuangX.LiuX.LuoQ.LiuJ.ShenJ. (2011). Artificial selenoenzymes: designed and redesigned. Chem. Soc. Rev.40, 1171–1184. 10.1039/C0CS00046A
59
ImK.NguyenD. N.KimS.KongH. J.KimY.ParkC. S.et al. (2017). Graphene-embedded hydrogel nanofibers for detection and removal of aqueous-phase dyes. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces9, 10768–10776. 10.1021/acsami.7b01163
60
JafariM. T.RezaeiB.ZakerB. (2009). Ion Mobility spectrometry as a detector for molecular imprinted polymer separation and metronidazole determination in pharmaceutical and human serum samples. Anal. Chem.81, 3585–3591. 10.1021/ac802557t
61
Jahanban-EsfahlanA.RoufegarinejadL.Jahanban-EsfahlanR.TabibiazarM.AmarowiczR. (2020). Latest developments in the detection and separation of bovine serum albumin using molecularly imprinted polymers. Talanta207:120317. 10.1016/j.talanta.2019.120317
62
JianY.ChenL.ChengJ.HuangX.YanL.LiH. (2020). Molecularly imprinted polymers immobilized on graphene oxide film for monolithic fiber solid phase microextraction and ultrasensitive determination of triphenyl phosphate. Anal. Chim. Acta1133, 1–10. 10.1016/j.aca.2020.08.003
63
JiangS.SaitoM.MurahashiM.TamiyaE. (2017). Pressure free nanoimprinting lithography using ladder-type HSQ material for LSPR biosensor chip. Sens. Actuat. B Chem.242, 47–55. 10.1016/j.snb.2016.11.030
64
KhanW. A.ArainM. B.SoylakM. (2020). Nanomaterials-based solid phase extraction and solid phase microextraction for heavy metals food toxicity. Food Chem. Toxicol.145:111704. 10.1016/j.fct.2020.111704
65
KongL.JiangX.ZengY.ZhouT.ShiG. (2013). Molecularly imprinted sensor based on electropolmerized poly(o-phenylenediamine) membranes at reduced graphene oxide modified electrode for imidacloprid determination. Sens. Actuat. B Chem.185, 424–431. 10.1016/j.snb.2013.05.033
66
KongL. J.PanM. F.FangG. Z.HeX. L.YangY. K.DaiJ.et al. (2014). Molecularly imprinted quartz crystal microbalance sensor based on poly(o-aminothiophenol) membrane and Au nanoparticles for ractopamine determination. Biosens. Bioelectron.51, 286–292. 10.1016/j.bios.2013.07.043
67
KuhnJ.AylazG.SariE.MarcoM.YiuH. H. P.DumanM. (2020). Selective binding of antibiotics using magnetic molecular imprint polymer (MMIP) networks prepared from vinyl-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles. J. Hazard. Mater.387:121709. 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.121709
68
KupaiJ.RazaliM.BuyuktiryakiS.KeciliR.SzekelyG. (2017). Long-term stability and reusability of molecularly imprinted polymers. Polym. Chem.8, 666–673. 10.1039/C6PY01853J
69
LeonhardtA.MosbachK. (1987). Enzyme-mimicking polymers exhibiting specific substrate binding and catalytic functions. React. Polym. Ion Exchang. Sorb.6, 285–290. 10.1016/0167-6989(87)90099-7
70
LiM.LiR.TanJ.JiangZ. T. (2013). Titania-based molecularly imprinted polymer for sulfonic acid dyes prepared by sol–gel method. Talanta107, 203–210. 10.1016/j.talanta.2013.01.014
71
LiY.YangH.-H.YouQ.-H.ZhuangZ.-X.WanX.-R. (2006). Protein recognition via surface molecularly imprinted polymer nanowires. Anal. Chem.78, 317–320. 10.1021/ac050802i
72
LiuG.LiT.YangX.SheY.WangM.WangJ.et al. (2016). Competitive fluorescence assay for specific recognition of atrazine by magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer based on Fe3O4-chitosan. Carbohydr. Polym.137, 75–81. 10.1016/j.carbpol.2015.10.062
73
LiuG.SheY.HongS.WangJ.XuD. (2018). Development of ELISA-like fluorescence assay for melamine detection based on magnetic dummy molecularly imprinted polymers. Appl. Sci.8:560. 10.3390/app8040560
74
LiuG.YangX.LiT.SheY.WangS.WangJ.et al. (2015). Preparation of a magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer using g-C3N4-Fe3O4 for atrazine adsorption. Mater. Lett.160, 472–475. 10.1016/j.matlet.2015.07.157
75
LiuJ.-Q.WulffG. (2008). Functional mimicry of carboxypeptidase a by a combination of transition state stabilization and a defined orientation of catalytic moieties in molecularly imprinted polymers. J. Am. Chem. Soc.130, 8044–8054. 10.1021/ja8012648
76
LiuX.LiuQ.KongF.QiaoX.XuZ. (2018). Molecularly imprinted fluorescent probe based on hydrophobic CdSe/ZnS quantum dots for the detection of methamidophos in fruit and vegetables. Adv. Polym. Technol.37, 1790–1796. 10.1002/adv.21838
77
LiuZ.LuY.ShiY.WangP.JonesK.SweetmanA. J.et al. (2017). Crop bioaccumulation and human exposure of perfluoroalkyl acids through multi-media transport from a mega fluorochemical industrial park, China. Environ. Int.106, 37–47. 10.1016/j.envint.2017.05.014
78
LobatoA.PereiraE. A.GonçalvesL. M. (2020). Combining capillary electromigration with molecular imprinting techniques towards an optimal separation and determination. Talanta221:121546. 10.1016/j.talanta.2020.121546
79
LuY.SongS.WangR.LiuZ.MengJ.SweetmanA. J.et al. (2015). Impacts of soil and water pollution on food safety and health risks in China. Environ. Int.77, 5–15. 10.1016/j.envint.2014.12.010
80
LucciP.MoretS.BettinS.ConteL. (2017). Selective solid-phase extraction using a molecularly imprinted polymer for the analysis of patulin in apple-based foods. J. Sep. Sci.40, 458–465. 10.1002/jssc.201601009
81
LulinskiP. (2017). Molecularly imprinted polymers based drug delivery devices: a way to application in modern pharmacotherapy. a review. Mater. Sci. Eng. C Mater. Biol. Appl.76, 1344–1353. 10.1016/j.msec.2017.02.138
82
MaY.XuS.WangS.WangL. (2015). Luminescent molecularly-imprinted polymer nanocomposites for sensitive detection. Trends Anal. Chem.67, 209–216. 10.1016/j.trac.2015.01.012
83
MahmoudpourM.TorbatiM.MousaviM.-M.de la GuardiaM.Ezzati Nazhad DolatabadiJ. (2020). Nanomaterial-based molecularly imprinted polymers for pesticides detection: recent trends and future prospects. Trends Anal. Chem.129:115943. 10.1016/j.trac.2020.115943
84
MirzajaniR.KardaniF.RamezaniZ. (2020). Fabrication of UMCM-1 based monolithic and hollow fiber - Metal-organic framework deep eutectic solvents/molecularly imprinted polymers and their use in solid phase microextraction of phthalate esters in yogurt, water and edible oil by GC-FID. Food Chem.314:126179. 10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.126179
85
Moreno-GonzalezD.JacP.RiasovaP.NovakovaL. (2020). In-line molecularly imprinted polymer solid phase extraction-capillary electrophoresis coupled with tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of patulin in apple-based food. Food Chem.334:127607. 10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.127607
86
NezhadaliA.SenobariS.MojarrabM. (2016). 1,4-dihydroxyanthraquinone electrochemical sensor based on molecularly imprinted polymer using multi-walled carbon nanotubes and multivariate optimization method. Talanta146, 525–532. 10.1016/j.talanta.2015.09.016
87
NingF.QiuT.WangQ.PengH.LiY.WuX.et al. (2017). Dummy-surface molecularly imprinted polymers on magnetic graphene oxide for rapid and selective quantification of acrylamide in heat-processed (including fried) foods. Food Chem.221, 1797–1804. 10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.10.101
88
PandeyH.KhareP.SinghS.SinghS. P. (2020). Carbon nanomaterials integrated molecularly imprinted polymers for biological sample analysis: a critical review. Mater. Chem. Phys.239:121966. 10.1016/j.matchemphys.2019.121966
89
PataerP.MuhammadT.TurahunY.YangW.AihebaierS.WubulikasimuM.et al. (2019). Preparation of a stoichiometric molecularly imprinted polymer for auramine O and application in solid-phase extraction. J. Sep. Sci.42, 1634–1643. 10.1002/jssc.201801234
90
PiletskaE. V.AbdB. H.KrakowiakA. S.ParmarA.PinkD. L.WallK. S.et al. (2015). Magnetic high throughput screening system for the development of nano-sized molecularly imprinted polymers for controlled delivery of curcumin. Analyst140, 3113–3120. 10.1039/C4AN02292K
91
PiletskyS.CanfarottaF.PomaA.BossiA. M.PiletskyS. (2020). Molecularly imprinted polymers for cell recognition. Trends Biotechnol.38, 368–387. 10.1016/j.tibtech.2019.10.002
92
Płotka-WasylkaJ.SzczepańskaN.de la GuardiaM.NamieśnikJ. (2016). Modern trends in solid phase extraction: New sorbent media. Trends Anal. Chem.77, 23–43. 10.1016/j.trac.2015.10.010
93
QianK.DengQ.FangG.WangJ.PanM.WangS.et al. (2016). Metal-organic frameworks supported surface-imprinted nanoparticles for the sensitive detection of metolcarb. Biosens. Bioelectron.79, 359–363. 10.1016/j.bios.2015.12.071
94
QuY.QinL.LiuX.YangY. (2020). Reasonable design and sifting of microporous carbon nanosphere-based surface molecularly imprinted polymer for selective removal of phenol from wastewater. Chemosphere251:126376. 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.126376
95
RenX.ZengG.TangL.WangJ.WanJ.LiuY.et al. (2018). Sorption, transport and biodegradation - An insight into bioavailability of persistent organic pollutants in soil. Sci. Total Environ.610–611, 1154–1163. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.08.089
96
RodriguezK. J.PellizzoniM. M.ChadwickR. J.GuoC.BrunsN. (2019). Enzyme-initiated free radical polymerizations of vinyl monomers using horseradish peroxidase. Methods Enzymol.627, 249–262. 10.1016/bs.mie.2019.08.013
97
RuddN. D.WangH.Fuentes-FernandezE. M.TeatS. J.ChenF.HallG.et al. (2016). Highly efficient luminescent metal-organic framework for the simultaneous detection and removal of heavy metals from water. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces8, 30294–30303. 10.1021/acsami.6b10890
98
RutkowskaM.Płotka-WasylkaJ.MorrisonC.WieczorekP. P.NamieśnikJ.MarćM. (2018). Application of molecularly imprinted polymers in analytical chiral separations and analysis. Trends Anal. Chem.102, 91–102. 10.1016/j.trac.2018.01.011
99
SharmaP. S.D'SouzaF.KutnerW. (2012). Molecular imprinting for selective chemical sensing of hazardous compounds and drugs of abuse. Trends Anal. Chem.34, 59–77. 10.1016/j.trac.2011.11.005
100
SinghM.SinghS.SinghS. P.PatelS. S. (2020). Recent advancement of carbon nanomaterials engrained molecular imprinted polymer for environmental matrix. Trends Environ. Anal. Chem.27:e00092. 10.1016/j.teac.2020.e00092
101
SonawaneS. L.AshaS. K. (2017). Probing cavity versus surface preference of fluorescent template molecules in molecularly imprinted polystyrene microspheres. J. Polym. Sci. Part A Polym. Chem.55, 1558–1565. 10.1002/pola.28523
102
SongY. P.ZhangL.WangG. N.LiuJ. X.LiuJ.WangJ. P. (2017). Dual-dummy-template molecularly imprinted polymer combining ultra performance liquid chromatography for determination of fluoroquinolones and sulfonamides in pork and chicken muscle. Food Control82, 233–242. 10.1016/j.foodcont.2017.07.002
103
SongX.XuS.ChenL.WeiY.XiongH. (2014). Recent advances in molecularly imprinted polymers in food analysis. J. Appl. Polym. Sci.131:40766. 10.1002/app.40766
104
SöylemezM. A.GüvenO.BarsbayM. (2018). Method for preparing a well-defined molecularly imprinted polymeric system via radiation-induced RAFT polymerization. Eur. Polym. J.103, 21–30. 10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2018.03.037
105
SpositoA. J.KurdekarA.ZhaoJ.HewlettI. (2018). Application of nanotechnology in biosensors for enhancing pathogen detection. Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Nanomed. Nanobiotechnol. 10:e1512. 10.1002/wnan.1512
106
SunX.PengJ.WangM.WangJ.TangC.YangL.et al. (2018). Determination of nine bisphenols in sewage and sludge using dummy molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction coupled with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. J. Chromatogr. A1552, 10–16. 10.1016/j.chroma.2018.04.004
107
SvitkovaV.PalchettiI. (2020). Functional polymers in photoelectrochemical biosensing. Bioelectrochemistry136:107590. 10.1016/j.bioelechem.2020.107590
108
TangK.GuX.LuoQ.ChenS.WuL.XiongJ. (2014). Preparation of molecularly imprinted polymer for use as SPE adsorbent for the simultaneous determination of five sulphonylurea herbicides by HPLC. Food Chem.150, 106–112. 10.1016/j.foodchem.2013.10.152
109
TangY.LiM.GaoX.LiuX.MaY.LiY.et al. (2015). Preconcentration of the antibiotic enrofloxacin using a hollow molecularly imprinted polymer, and its quantitation by HPLC. Microchim. Acta183, 589–596. 10.1007/s00604-015-1681-7
110
TarannumN.KhatoonS.DzantievB. B. (2020). Perspective and application of molecular imprinting approach for antibiotic detection in food and environmental samples: a critical review. Food Control118:107381. 10.1016/j.foodcont.2020.107381
111
TurielE.Martin-EstebanA. (2010). Molecularly imprinted polymers for sample preparation: a review. Anal. Chim. Acta668, 87–99. 10.1016/j.aca.2010.04.019
112
WangH.LiuY.YaoS.ZhuP. (2018). Selective recognization of dicyandiamide in bovine milk by mesoporous silica SBA-15 supported dicyandiamide imprinted polymer based on surface molecularly imprinting technique. Food Chem.240, 1262–1267. 10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.08.066
113
WangJ.GaoL.HanD.PanJ.QiuH.LiH.et al. (2015). Optical detection of lambda-cyhalothrin by core-shell fluorescent molecularly imprinted polymers in Chinese spirits. J. Agric. Food Chem63, 2392–2399. 10.1021/jf5043823
114
WangS.MengX.ZhouH.LiuY.SecundoF.LiuY. (2016). Enzyme stability and activity in non-aqueous reaction systems: a mini review. Catalysts6:32. 10.3390/catal6020032
115
WangW.XuY.LiuX.PengL.HuangT.YanY.et al. (2020). Efficient fabrication of ratiometric fluorescence imprinting sensors based on organic-inorganic composite materials and highly sensitive detection of oxytetracycline in milk. Microchem. J.157:105063. 10.1016/j.microc.2020.105053
116
WangY.ZhouJ.ZhangB.TianL.AliZ.ZhangQ. (2017). Fabrication and characterization of glutathione-imprinted polymers on fibrous SiO 2 microspheres with high specific surface. Chem. Eng. J.327, 932–940. 10.1016/j.cej.2017.06.184
117
WangY. L.GaoY. L.WangP. P.ShangH.PanS. Y.LiX. J. (2013). Sol-gel molecularly imprinted polymer for selective solid phase microextraction of organophosphorous pesticides. Talanta115, 920–927. 10.1016/j.talanta.2013.06.056
118
WangZ.YanR.LiaoS.MiaoY.ZhangB.WangF.et al. (2018). In situ reduced silver nanoparticles embedded molecularly imprinted reusable sensor for selective and sensitive SERS detection of Bisphenol A. Appl. Surf. Sci.457, 323–331. 10.1016/j.apsusc.2018.06.283
119
WeiS.HuX.LiuH.WangQ.HeC. (2015). Rapid degradation of Congo red by molecularly imprinted polypyrrole-coated magnetic TiO2 nanoparticles in dark at ambient conditions. J. Hazard. Mater.294, 168–176. 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2015.03.067
120
WuX.ZhangZ.LiJ.YouH.LiY.ChenL. (2015). Molecularly imprinted polymers-coated gold nanoclusters for fluorescent detection of bisphenol A. Sens. Actuat. B Chem.211, 507–514. 10.1016/j.snb.2015.01.115
121
WulffG. (2002). Enzyme-like catalysis by molecularly imprinted polymers. Am. Chem. Soc.102, 1–25. 10.1021/cr980039a
122
WulffG.VesperW.Grobe-EinslerR.SarhanA. (1977). On the synthesis of polymers containing chiral cavities and their use for the resolution of racemates. Makromol. Chem. 178, 2799–2816. 10.1002/macp.1977.021781004
123
XiaoJ.XuX.WangF.MaJ.LiaoM.ShiY.et al. (2019). Analysis of exposure to pesticide residues from traditional Chinese medicine. J. Hazard. Mater.365, 857–867. 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.11.075
124
XieT.ZhangM.ChenP.ZhaoH.YangX.YaoL.et al. (2017). A facile molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor based on graphene: application to the selective determination of thiamethoxam in grain. RSC Adv.7, 38884–38894. 10.1039/C7RA05167K
125
XuL.FangG.PanM.WangX.WangS. (2016). One-pot synthesis of carbon dots-embedded molecularly imprinted polymer for specific recognition of sterigmatocystin in grains. Biosens. Bioelectron.77, 950–956. 10.1016/j.bios.2015.10.072
126
XuS.ChenL.LiJ.QinW.MaJ. (2011). Preparation of hollow porous molecularly imprinted polymers and their applications to solid-phase extraction of triazines in soil samples. J. Mater. Chem.21, 12047–12053. 10.1039/c1jm10905g
127
YuH.HeY.SheY.WangM.YanZ.RenJ. H.et al. (2019). Preparation of molecularly imprinted polymers coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography for the selective extraction of salidroside from Rhodiola crenulata. J. Chromatogr. B Analyt. Technol. Biomed. Life Sci.1118–1119, 180–186. 10.1016/j.jchromb.2019.04.004
128
YuJ.WangX.KangQ.LiJ.ShenD.ChenL. (2017). One-pot synthesis of a quantum dot-based molecular imprinting nanosensor for highly selective and sensitive fluorescence detection of 4-nitrophenol in environmental waters. Environ. Sci. Nano4, 493–502. 10.1039/C6EN00395H
129
YuanY.YangY.FaheemM.ZouX.MaX.WangZ.et al. (2018a). molecularly imprinted porous aromatic frameworks serving as porous artificial enzymes. Adv. Mater. Weinheim30:e1800069. 10.1002/adma.201800069
130
YuanY.YangY.MaX.MengQ.WangL.ZhaoS.et al. (2018b). molecularly imprinted porous aromatic frameworks and their composite components for selective extraction of uranium ions. Adv. Mater.30:e1706507. 10.1002/adma.201706507
131
ZengH.WangY.NieC.KongJ.LiuX. (2012). Preparation of magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers for separating rutin from Chinese medicinal plants. Analyst137, 2503–2512. 10.1039/c2an35259a
132
ZhangL.ZhuC.ChenC.ZhuS.ZhouJ.WangM.et al. (2018). Determination of kanamycin using a molecularly imprinted SPR sensor. Food Chem.266, 170–174. 10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.05.128
133
ZhangM.ZhaoH. T.YangX.ZhangW. T.WangJ.LiuG. Y.et al. (2016). Preparation and characterization of surface molecularly imprinted film coated on a magnetic nanocore for the fast and selective recognition of the new neonicotinoid insecticide paichongding (IPP). RSC Adv.6, 3714–3722. 10.1039/C5RA22138B
134
ZhangR.-R.ZhanJ.XuJ.-J.ChaiJ.-Y.ZhangZ.-M.SunA.-L.et al. (2020). Application of a novel electrochemiluminescence sensor based on magnetic glassy carbon electrode modified with molecularly imprinted polymers for sensitive monitoring of bisphenol A in seawater and fish samples. Sens. Actuat B Chem.317:128237. 10.1016/j.snb.2020.128237
135
ZhangZ.LiY.ZhangX.LiuJ. (2019). Molecularly imprinted nanozymes with faster catalytic activity and better specificity. Nanoscale11, 4854–4863. 10.1039/C8NR09816F
136
ZhaoW.-R.KangT.-F.XuY.-H.ZhangX.LiuH.MingA.-J.et al. (2020). Electrochemiluminescence solid-state imprinted sensor based on graphene/CdTe@ZnS quantum dots as luminescent probes for low-cost ultrasensing of diethylstilbestrol. Sens. Actuat. B Chem.306:127563. 10.1016/j.snb.2019.127563
137
ZhaoZ.FanJ.WangC.ChengB.XueY.YinS. (2017). Preparation and properties of phenol imprinted polymers based on silica modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes. J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol.17, 1504–1509. 10.1166/jnn.2017.12651
138
ZhouJ. W.ZouX. M.SongS. H.ChenG. H. (2018). Quantum dots applied to methodology on detection of pesticide and veterinary drug residues. J. Agric. Food Chem. 66, 1307–1319. 10.1021/acs.jafc.7b05119
139
ZhuR.LaiM.ZhuM.LiangH.ZhouQ.LiR.et al. (2020). A functional ratio fluorescence sensor platform based on the graphene/Mn-ZnS quantum dots loaded with molecularly imprinted polymer for selective and visual detection sinapic acid. Spectrochim. Acta A Mol. Biomol. Spectrosc.244:118845. 10.1016/j.saa.2020.118845
Summary
Keywords
molecularly imprinted polymers, nanomaterials, detection, food safety, contaminants
Citation
Gao M, Gao Y, Chen G, Huang X, Xu X, Lv J, Wang J, Xu D and Liu G (2020) Recent Advances and Future Trends in the Detection of Contaminants by Molecularly Imprinted Polymers in Food Samples. Front. Chem. 8:616326. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2020.616326
Received
12 October 2020
Accepted
09 November 2020
Published
01 December 2020
Volume
8 - 2020
Edited by
Ashok Mulchandani, University of California, Riverside, United States
Reviewed by
Nicole J. Jaffrezic-Renault, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France; Adil Denizli, Hacettepe University, Turkey
Updates

Check for updates
Copyright
© 2020 Gao, Gao, Chen, Huang, Xu, Lv, Wang, Xu and Liu.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Donghui Xu xudonghui@caas.cnGuangyang Liu iliuguangyang@caas.cn
This article was submitted to Analytical Chemistry, a section of the journal Frontiers in Chemistry
†These authors share first authorship
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.