Fabrication of Template-Assisted NanoMIPs: Nano-Sized Polymers for the Extraction of Ferulic Acid in Spiked Urine Sample

Abstract

Ferulic acid (FA), a phenolic compound abundant in plant-based foods and traditional medicines, exhibits potent antioxidant, antidiabetic, and neuroprotective properties. However, extracting FA from natural and biological matrices remains challenging due to its susceptibility to oxidation and hydrolysis. While molecular imprinting polymer (MIP) technology offers selective extraction capabilities, existing approaches employ bulk-sized polymers with limited surface accessibility and slow binding kinetics. This study addressed these limitations by developing nano-sized molecularly imprinted polymers via oil-in-water microemulsion polymerization, employing methacrylic acid (functional monomer), ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (crosslinker), and benzoyl peroxide blend with dicyclohexyl phthalate (initiator). Comprehensive characterization using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier-Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed that nano MIPs exhibited exceptional surface properties: specific surface area of 106.44 m2/g with mean particle diameter of 42.72 nm, enabling rapid equilibrium binding within 30 min. Under optimized conditions (pH 7, 10 ppm FA, 0.1 g dosage), the nano MIP achieved 80.92% binding efficiency compared to 58.5% for controls, with validated recovery of 85.2% from spiked human urine samples. These results establish nano-scale MIPs as effective alternatives to conventional extraction methods for biological sample analysis and clinical applications.