Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
Polyacrylonitrile having methacrylic acid [P(AN-co-MAA)] and acrylic acid [P(AN-co-AA)] was used for phase inversion imprinting of uracil (URA). Resultant imprinted membranes had porous morphology and showed permselective binding of URA, when 32 μM URA aqueous solution was permeated under pressure gradient of 100 Pa across the membrane. Under the circumstance, the imprinted P(AN-co-MAA) membrane bound 7.9 μmol/g of URA with 8.4×10−6 m3/m2·s of volume flux. The imprinted P(AN-co-AA) membrane showed loose selectivity relative to the P(AN-co-MAA) membrane. Binding behavior of URA and dimethyluracil (DMURA) was also compared in both imprinted membranes. Evidence was presented that P(AN-co-MAA) with methacrylic segments was effective for URA imprinting and resulted in high URA selectivity in the permselective binding experiments.