MIP-TFMAA-co-TRIM as Selective Adsorption of β- sitosterol

A functional monomer of trifluoromethylacrylic acid (TFMAA), a cross-linker of trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TRIM) and a template molecule of β-sitosterol have been used to produce a molecularly imprinted polymer, MIP_TFMAA-co-TRIM by a polymerization process based on non- covalent interaction between the monomer and the template. After the removal of the template, we used the product of MIP as an adsorbent of β-sitosterol and determined the adsorption capacity. The adsorption-desorption process for β-sitosterol and the selectivity test for β-sitosterol and cholesterol were also studied. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and UV-vis spectrophotometry were methods for measuring the amount of .materials adsorbed. Langmuir and Freundlich equations were models used to study the adsorption isotherm of the removal of β- sitosterol. The adsorption of β-sitosterol on MIP_TFMAA-co-TRIM followed the Freundlich isotherm with a capacity of 0.61 mg/g. The first and the second adsorption-desorption processes showed that the recovery percentages of β-sitosterol from MIP_TFMAA-co-TRIM were 66.36 and 40.56%, respectively. The MIP was more selective for β-sitosterol than for cholesterol.