Gate effect of cellulosic dialysis membrane grafted with molecularly imprinted polymer

Graft copolymerization of ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate and merthacrylic acid onto cellulosic membrane was performed in the presence and absence of theophylline as the template for imprinting the copolymer molecularly. The effect of the presence of the template on the diffusive permeability of the grafted membrane was estimated by batch-wise dialysis of creatinine. The permeability of the theophylline-imprinted membrane was increased by the presence of theophylline, but was virtually unaffected by caffeine, which is an analogue of theophylline. The permeability of the non-imprinted grafted membrane decreased in the presence of theophylline or caffeine without discrimination. These results indicate that the diffusive permeability of the cellulosic membrane grafted with molecularly imprinted copolymer discriminates between the template and its analogue.