ATRAZINE SENSING BY MOLECULARLY IMPRINTED MEMBRANES

New types of polymeric membranes containing molecular recognition sites for atrazine have been prepared using the molecular imprinting approach. The membrane synthesis includes radical polymerization of diethyl aminoethyl methacrylate and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate in the presence of atrazine as template, After splitting off the template molecules, these polymers have been used as materials for conductimetric sensors, sensitive for the herbicide. Influence of polymerization conditions on membrane sensitivity and nature of sensor response is discussed. With this system atrazine in solution can be detected in the range 0.01-0.50 mg/L. Although this dynamic range is at present not large, the membranes did not show loss of sensitivity for at least 4 months. The response time for the sensor is in the order of 30 min, which might be reduced using thinner imprinted membranes.