MnO₂ corolla-like magnetic molecularly imprinted microspheres with enhanced adsorption capacity and specificity recognition to bovine serum albumin

Fe₃O₄@MnO₂ hollow microspheres with a high specific surface area were prepared by hydrothermal method, and the MnO₂ nanosheets were stacked on the surface of Fe₃O₄ hollow microspheres to form corolla-like microspheres. Based on the successful fabrication of these microspheres, bovine serum albumin (BSA)-imprinted Fe₃O₄@MnO₂ microspheres were fabricated via free radical polymerization. Water-soluble modified chitosan and 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) were used as functional molecules, because of their good biocompatibility and affinity with protein, which were demonstrated by circular dichroism spectrum and computational methods. The prepared imprinted materials exhibited the excellent imprinted performance for BSA. The adsorption amount (Q), the imprinting factor (IF), and the selectivity factor (β) were 140.6 mg/g, 3.3, and 5.5, respectively.