Molecularly imprinted beads based on modified cellulose hydrogel:A novel solid phase extraction filler for specific adsorption of camptothecin

Traditional solid phase extraction (SPE) suffers from a lack of specific adsorption. To overcome this problem, a combination of adsorption method and molecular imprinting technology by polydopamine modification was proposed to realize specific recognition of target compounds in SPE, which is of great significance to improve the separation efficiency of SPE. Cellulose hydrogel beads were prepared by dual cross-linking curing method and modified with polydopamine to make them hydrophilic and biocompatible. Subsequently, cellulose hydrogel-based molecularly imprinted beads (MIBs) were synthesized by surface molecular imprinting technology and used as novel column fillers in SPE to achieve efficient adsorption (34.16 mg·g−1) with specific selectivity towards camptothecin (CPT) in 120 min. The simulation and NMR analysis revealed that recognition mechanism of MIBs involved hydrogen bond interactions and Van der Waals effect. The MIBs were successful used in separating CPT from Camptotheca acuminata fruits, exhibiting impressive adsorption capacity (1.19 mg·g−1) and efficient recovery of CPT (81.54 %). Thus, an environmentally friendly column filler for SPE was developed, offering a promising avenue for utilizing cellulose-based materials in the selective separation of natural products.