•Preparation of BSA interfacial molecularly imprinted microspheres.•The amphiphilic ionic liquid [DMM]Cl was employed as emulsifier in miniemulsion polymerization.•[DMM]Cl has superior stabilization effect on BSA conformation.•Fast mass transfer rate and superior recognition ability of IMIMs-[DMM]Cl for BSA.Design and preparation of functional materials for selective recognition of biomacromolecules such as proteins, DNA, viruses, and bacteria have always been extremely challenging due to their structure sensitivity. Regrettably, the structure stability of biomacromolecules in molecularly imprinted technology was rarely addressed. This paper presents an effective procedure for the facile preparation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) interfacial molecularly imprinted microspheres (IMIMs), using an imidazole-based amphiphilic ionic liquid (IL), which played a dual role of a stabilizer and emulsifier, via miniemulsion polymerization at 25 °C. In order to prove the stabilizing effect of IL on BSA, a conventional emulsifier sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), was also used as the emulsifier for comparison. Different characterization methods were employed to investigate the stability of BSA structure and track the experimental process. The results reveal that the destruction of structure of BSA by amphiphilic IL, 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([DMM]Cl), was much lower than that by SDS. Moreover, good selectivity of IMIMs-[DMM]Cl towards BSA was certified in the batch-wise and selectivity rebinding tests, in which an imprinting factor of 3.32 was obtained. This was superior to IMIMs-SDS and demonstrated to be a promising platform for recognition of protein with good specificity.

•The cyclodextrin-based ionic liquid functional monomer was designed and synthesized.•Combination of epitope and surface imprinting strategy to enhance imprinting efficiency.•Easy and highly efficient separation process by magnetic property of the support material.•Highly selective and effective enrichment of EMIPs for cytochrome c in aqueous media.Epitope molecularly imprinted polymers (EMIPs) were synthesized using a novel cyclodextrin-based ionic liquid as functional monomer for specific recognition of cytochrome c (Cyt c) in aqueous solution via the combination of epitope and surface imprinting approach. Herein, the surface-exposed C-terminus of Cyt c (residues 96–104, AYLKKATNE) was selected as the template. Results reveal that the charged monomer cyclodextrins (CDs), namely mono-6A-deoxy-6-(1-vinylimidazolium)-β-cyclodextrin tosylate, could confer EMIPs with superior adsorption (67.6 mg g−1) and excellent recognition property (4.54) toward Cyt c due to its multiple binding sites with template such as hydrogen bonding, π–π effect, electrostatic, hydrophobic as well as steric effects. Moreover, the magnetic property of EMIPs has endowed the whole separation process with great convenience and efficiency, which demonstrated their potential application for large-scale separation and recognition.

Surface-imprinted microspheres were controllably synthesized using ionic liquid-functionalized microspheres with a highly cross-linked raspberry-like structure as the matrix via surface molecular self-assembly and precipitation polymerization in aqueous media at room temperature. An immunostimulating hexapeptide from human (IHH) with medical properties was chosen as a template molecule in the preparation of different molecularly imprinted microspheres (MIMs). The experiment process was tracked and the as-prepared microspheres were well characterized. Results reveal that the adsorption capacity and selective recognition of MIMs have a direct relationship with the properties of the functional chain of the ionic liquid-functionalized microspheres. Moreover, MIMs that have both high adsorption capacity and good selective recognition were used in competitive rebinding tests and analysis of urine samples, which demonstrated their potential use for IHH enrichment and in real samples.

The surface functionalities of nanomaterials provide an invaluable resource to biomaterials science in the form of biomolecular recognition, sensing, self-assembly and drug delivery. This paper presents a one-step procedure for the facile preparation of highly cross-linked raspberry-like nano/microspheres by the dispersion polymerization of polyethylene glycol dimethacrylate and N-vinylimidazole. Ionic liquid-functionalized reactions were then conducted on the surface of the raspberry-like nano/microspheres to investigate the effects of the functional groups on the peptide adsorption in aqueous media. Various characterization methods were employed to characterize the as-prepared nano/microspheres and to track the experiment process. The results reveal that the nano/microspheres were raspberry-like, monodisperse and stable. It was also found that the adsorption of immunostimulating hexapeptide from human (IHH) was correlated with the surface properties of the ionic liquid-functionalized nano/microspheres, which demonstrated their potential use for the immobilization and release of IHH in practical application.

N-Vinyl-3-alkylimidazolium tetrahalogenidoferrate(III) ([VRIM][FeX4], X4 = Cl3Br, Cl4) and N-vinyl-3-esterimidazolium tetrachloroferrate(III)([VEIM][FeCl4]) magnetic ionic liquids were synthesized. They were characterized by 1H NMR, Raman, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. Through Gaussian09/B3LYP/LANL2DZ density functional theory, the interaction energies of ion pairs and dipole moment of [VRIM][FeX4] and [VEIM][FeCl4] were obtained. The relationships between the surface tensions and temperature, molecular structure, and interaction energies of ion pairs along with the relationships between the solubility and molecular structure, common solvents, and interaction energies of ion pairs were discussed systematically. The relationship between the surface tensions and solubility parameter for [VRIM][FeX4] was expressed by using a Hildebrand–Scoff equation. And the hydrophilic–lipophilic balance (HLB) values of [VRIM][FeX4] were obtained by a solubility parameter. The results showed that surface tension decreased linearly with temperature and decreased with the elongation of alkyl chain length on cation and the decrease of interaction energies of ion pairs; With decreasing dielectric constant of solvent, the solubility of the title magnetic ionic liquids increased first and then decreased; with the elongation of alkyl chain length, the interaction energies of ion pairs and HLB value decreased, and the solubility in polar solvents had a decreasing trend.

Surface-imprinted microspheres were controllably synthesized using ionic liquid-functionalized microspheres with a highly cross-linked raspberry-like structure as the matrix via surface molecular self-assembly and precipitation polymerization in aqueous media at room temperature. An immunostimulating hexapeptide from human (IHH) with medical properties was chosen as a template molecule in the preparation of different molecularly imprinted microspheres (MIMs). The experiment process was tracked and the as-prepared microspheres were well characterized. Results reveal that the adsorption capacity and selective recognition of MIMs have a direct relationship with the properties of the functional chain of the ionic liquid-functionalized microspheres. Moreover, MIMs that have both high adsorption capacity and good selective recognition were used in competitive rebinding tests and analysis of urine samples, which demonstrated their potential use for IHH enrichment and in real samples.