Evaluation of Sorption of Cefuroxime Sodium and Cefotaxime Sodium by Molecular-Imprinted Polymers

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are increasingly attracting the attention of researchers due to their ability for molecular recognition, high specificity, mechanical strength, ease of synthesis, low cost and ability for selective sorption of target molecules. However, the efficiency of MIP sorption largely depends on the synthesis conditions, so the study of the sorption properties of MIPs is necessary. In this work, MIPs with an imprint of the antibiotics cefuroxime sodium (Cefur) and cefotaxime sodium (Cefot) were synthesized. These MIPs made it possible to create specific recognition sites in the polymer matrix. It was found that the sorption equilibrium is achieved after 55 min for Cefur and 45 min for Cefot, which is explained by the differences in their molecular structure. The sorption isotherms of Cefur and Cefot belong to the L type, which indicates the mechanism of monomolecular sorption in small pores of the polymer. Strong interaction between the polymer and the antibiotic promotes rapid filling of the pores even at low concentrations, as a result of which the initial sorption capacity increases linearly. With a further increase in concentration, the curve reaches a plateau corresponding to the maximum sorption capacity. Due to the presence of specific recognition sites, MIPs demonstrated higher sorption capacity compared to non-imprinted polymer (NP). The maximum sorption capacity was 12.15 mg/g for MIP-Cefur and 5.17 mg/g for MIP-Cefot. MIP-Cefur has higher sorption capacity compared to MIP-Cefot, which is expressed in a higher degree of extraction (49.5% versus 29.8%) and a higher imprinting factor (3.1 versus 2.5). In addition, both MIP-Cefur and MIP-Cefot demonstrated high specificity to the target antibiotics. The obtained results confirm the efficiency of molecularly imprinted polymers in the sorption and selective determination of antibiotics, which makes them promising for practical application. For citation: Pham Thi Gam, Cao Nhat Linh, Zyablov A.N. Evaluation of sorption of cefuroxime sodium and cefotaxime sodium by molecular-imprinted polymers. ChemChemTech [Izv. Vyssh. Uchebn. Zaved. Khim. Khim. Tekhnol.]. 2025. V. 68. N 10. P. 64-70. DOI: 10.6060/ivkkt.20256810.7269.