Citation:
Elena V. Piletska, Nicholas W. Turner, Anthony P.F. Turner, Sergey A. Piletsky, Controlled release of the herbicide simazine from computationally designed molecularly imprinted polymers. Journal of Controlled Release. Vol. 108, Issue 1, 2 November 2005, p.132-139.
Abstract:
The present study describes the development of materials suitable for
environmental control of algae. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were used
as simazine carriers able to provide the controlled release of simazine into
water. Three polymers were designed using computational modelling. The selection
of methacrylic acid (MA) and hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEM) as functional
monomers was based on results obtained using the Leapfrog™ algorithm. A cross-
linked polymer made without functional monomers was also prepared and tested as
a control. The release of simazine from all three polymers was studied. It was
shown that the presence of functional monomers is important for polymer affinity
and for controlled release of herbicide. The speed of release of herbicide
correlated with the calculated binding characteristics. The high-affinity MA-
based polymer released 2% and the low-affinity HEM-based polymer released 27% of
the template over 25 days. The kinetics of simazine release from HEM-based
polymer show that total saturation of an aqueous environment could be achieved
over a period of 3 weeks and this corresponds to the maximal simazine solubility
in water. The possible use of these types of polymers in the field of controlled
release is discusse
