Molecularly imprinted polymers for (90)Sr urine bioassay.

A molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) comprising dicyclohexano-18-crown-6 (DCH18C6) was synthesized as a Sr-selective sorbent for urine bioassay purposes. MIP particles (326 ± 2 nm diameter) were formed using acetone and acetonitrile (1:3 v/v) as the porogen, methacrylic acid (MAA) as the functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the cross-linker. The DCH18C6-MIP particles were impregnated with additional DCH18C6 and treated further with NaOH to attain better binding affinity for Sr(2+). The effects of pH, ionic strength and amount of particles were evaluated for optimal extraction of (90)Sr(2+) from urine samples, as measured by liquid scintillation analysis (LSA). After up to 94% of (90)Y was removed by precipitation with TiO(2), DCH18C6-MIP particles were applied for selective SPE of (90)Sr remaining in the urine matrix for final LSA.