Determination of ibuprofen, naproxen and diclofenac in aqueous samples using a multi-template molecularly imprinted polymer as selective adsorbent for solid-phase extraction.

This study describes the application of multi-template molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) as selective sorbent in the solid-phase extraction (SPE) of naproxen, ibuprofen and diclofenac from wastewater and river water. MIP was synthesized at 70°C by employing naproxen, ibuprofen and diclofenac as multi-templates, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, 2-vinyl pyridine and toluene as cross-linker, functional monomer and porogen, respectively. Wastewater and river water samples (pH 2.5) were percolated through SPE cartridge packed with 50mg of the MIP. The cartridge was washed with 2mL of methanol-water 10:90% (v:v) prior to elution with 2mL of acetic acid-acetonitrile 20:80% (v:v). Quantification of eluted compounds was performed with high performance liquid chromatography equipped with photo diode array detection. The detection limits were 0.15, 1.00 and 0.63μgL(-1) for naproxen, ibuprofen and diclofenac, respectively. Recoveries for naproxen, ibuprofen and diclofenac in deionized water spiked at 5 and 50μgL(-1) were greater than 80%. Ibuprofen was the most frequently detected compound with maximum concentrations of 221, 67.9 and 11.4μgL(-1) in wastewater influent, effluent and river water, respectively.