Novel critical point drying (CPD) based preparation and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging of protein specific molecularly imprinted polymers (HydroMIPs)

作者：Hawkins Daniel M; Ellis E Ann; Stevenson Derek; Holzenburg Andreas; Reddy Subrayal M^*

来源：Journal of Materials Science, 2007, 42(22): 9465-9468.

DOI：10.1007/s10853-007-1806-4

We report the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging of a hydrogel based molecularly imprinted polymer (HydroMIP) specific to the template molecule bovine haemoglobin (BHb). A novel critical point drying based sample preparation technique was employed to prepare the molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) samples in a manner that would facilitate the use of TEM to image the imprinted cavities, and provide an appropriate degree of both magnification and resolution to image polymer architecture in the < 10 nm range. For the first time, polymer structure has been detailed that tentatively suggests molecularly imprinted cavities, ranging from 5 to 50 nm in size, that correlate (in terms of size) with the protein molecule employed as the imprinting template. The modified critical point drying sample preparation technique used may potentially play a key role in the imaging of all molecularly imprinted polymers, particularly those prepared in the aqueous phase.

• 出版日期2007-11