Junbo Liu

Preparation of melamine molecularly imprinted polymer by computer-aided design.

Melamine was chosen as template, methacrylic acid was chosen as functional monomer, and divinylbenzene, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, trimethylolpropane trimethylacrylate were chosen as cross-linking agents, respectively. The WB97XD/6-31G(d, p) method was used to calculate the geometry optimization of the different imprinting ratios, the action sites, the bonding situation, and the optimization of the cross-linking agents. The nature of the imprinting effect was also studied by the atoms in molecules theory. The theoretical results showed that melamine interacts with methacrylic acid by hydrogen bonding, and the melamine molecularly imprinted polymers with a molar ratio of 1:6 have the most hydrogen bonds and the most stable structure. Divinylbenzene is the best cross-linking agent for the melamine molecularly imprinted polymers. The melamine molecularly imprinted polymers were synthesized by precipitation polymerization. The results showed that the maximum adsorption capacity for molecularly imprinted polymers towards melamine is 19.84 mg/g, and the adsorption quantity of the polymers to melamine is obviously higher than that of cyromazine, cyanuric acid, and trithiocyanuric in milk. This study could provide theoretical and experimental references for the screening of the imprinting ratio and the cross-linking agent for the given template and monomer system.

Theoretical research on self-assembly system of molecularly imprinted polymers formed by melamine and trifluoromethacrylic acid

The long-range correction method (WB97XD) was applied to simulate the self-assembly system of the molecularly imprinted polymers via Gaussian 09 software. Melamine (MAM) was taken as the template molecule and trifluoromethacrylic acid (TFMAA) was taken as the functional monomer. The ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, divinylbenzene, pentaerythritol triacrylate, and trimethylolpropane trimethylacrylate were chosen as the cross-linking agents, respectively. The acetonitrile, methanol, dichloromethane, chloroform, toluene, ethanol, and dimethylsulfoxide were taken as solvents, respectively. The bonding situation, the geometry optimization of the different imprinting ratios, the binding energy, the molecular imprinting mechanism between MAM and TFMAA, and the influence of cross-linking agent as well as solvent have been studied. The detailed topological property was also applied to discuss the nature of the imprinting effect. The results indicate that MAM and TFMAA can form ordered compounds via hydrogen bond interaction. The melamine-molecularly imprinted polymers with a molar ratio of 1:6 have the lowest binding energy, the largest amount of hydrogen bonds, and the stable structure in toluene solvent. Divinylbenzene is the best cross-linking agent for the melamine-molecularly imprinted polymers in comparison with others. The study can provide a theoretical reference for the synthesis of the high selectivity melamine-molecularly imprinted polymers.

Study on Dicyandiamide-Imprinted Polymers with Computer-Aided Design

With the aid of theoretical calculations, a series of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were designed and prepared for the recognition of dicyandiamide (DCD) via precipitation polymerization using acetonitrile as the solvent at 333 K. On the basis of the long-range correction method of M062X/6-31G(d,p), we simulated the bonding sites, bonding situations, binding energies, imprinted molar ratios, and the mechanisms of interaction between DCD and the functional monomers. Among acrylamide (AM), N,N’-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA), itaconic acid (IA), and methacrylic acid (MAA), MAA was confirmed as the best functional monomer, because the strongest interaction (the maximum number of hydrogen bonds and the lowest binding energy) occurs between DCD and MAA, when the optimal molar ratios for DCD to the functional monomers were used, respectively. Additionally, pentaerythritol triacrylate (PETA) was confirmed to be the best cross-linker among divinylbenzene (DVB), ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), trimethylolpropane trimethylacrylate (TRIM), and PETA. This is due to the facts that the weakest interaction (the highest binding energy) occurs between PETA and DCD, and the strongest interaction (the lowest binding energy) occurs between PETA and MAA. Depending on the results of theoretical calculations, a series of MIPs were prepared. Among them, the ones prepared using DCD, MAA, and PETA as the template, the functional monomer, and the cross-linker, respectively, exhibited the highest adsorption capacity for DCD. The apparent maximum absorption quantity of DCD on the MIP was 17.45 mg/g.

Density functional theory calculations of photophysical properties of linear 2, 7-carbazole derivatives as solar cell materials

A theoretical study has been performed to explore the optical and electronic properties on a series of linear 2, 7-carbazole derivative (PCDTBT) by introducing vinyl (v) as linkage and/or benzene (B) as end-capped group for solar cell materials. The PBE0/6-31G(d) method was employed to calculate the frontier molecular orbital (FMO) and energy gap of all derivatives. The values of energy gap change less than 0.28 eV depending on v as linkage and/or B as end-capped group. The absorption spectra was evaluated using the TD-PBE0/6-31 + G(d,p) level on the basis of the optimized geometries. The absorption spectrum has a red shift along with the increasing of molecular chain. The results of ionization potential (IP), electron affinity (EA), and reorganization energy (λ) reveal that, v as linkage and/or B as end-capped group both lead to the increase of charger transfer rates for PCDTBT. Moreover, v as linkage and/or B as end-capped group have slight effects on the stability property of PCDTBT.

Theoretical and experimental studies on the performances of barbital‐imprinted systems

By using density functional theory, we studied the interaction process between barbital and 2-vinyl-4,6-diamino-1,3,5-triazine in acetonitrile at 333 K. Barbital and 2-vinyl-4,6-diamino-1,3,5-triazine were used as the template and functional monomer, respectively. The molecularly imprinted polymer microspheres containing barbital and 2-vinyl-4,6-diamino-1,3,5-triazine were synthesized through precipitation polymerization. After removing the template molecule barbital, the average diameter of the obtained molecularly imprinted polymers was 1.45 μm. By optimizing the molar ratio of barbital and the 2-vinyl-4,6-diamino-1,3,5-triazine, the resulting molecularly imprinted polymers showed the highest adsorption for the barbital. The analysis of the Scatchard plot revealed that the dissociation constant (Kd ) and apparent maximum adsorption quantity (Qmax ) of the molecularly imprinted polymers were 30.69 mg/L and 8.68 mg/g, respectively. The study of selective adsorption showed that molecularly imprinted polymers exhibited higher selectivity for barbtital than that for 1,3-dimethyl barbituric acid and pentobarbital. Herein, the studies can provide theoretical and experimental references for the barbital-imprinted system.

Theoretical study of the optical, electronic, and charge-transfer properties of 1,2,4,5-tetrakis(phenylethynyl)benzene derivatives for solar cell applications

A series of 1,2,4,5-tetrakis(phenylethynyl)benzene derivatives has been investigated at the CAM-B3LYP/6-31G(d) and TD-CAM-B3LYP/6-31 + G(d,p) levels to design materials with high performance with respect to suitable frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs), broad absorption spectra, and better and balanced charge-transfer properties. The calculated results reveal that the molecule possessing benzene has the largest torsion angle of these derivatives. Different branches have a slight influence on the distributions of the FMOs of the molecules. 2-vinyl-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene branches display a small HOMO–LUMO gap corresponding to red shifts of the absorption spectra. These molecules are potential ambipolar charge-transport materials under the appropriate operating conditions.

Theoretical guidance for experimental research of the dicyandiamide and methacrylic acid molecular imprinted polymer

In this study, molecular imprinted polymers (MIPs) have been prepared using dicyandiamide (DCD) as the template molecule, methacrylic acid (MAA) as the functional monomer, and pentaerythritol triacrylate (PETA) as the cross-linker. On the basis of density functional theory (DFT), we simulated the pre-configuration between DCD and MAA by Gaussian 09 software. The best imprinted molar ratio was optimized according to the geometric configuration of the stable complexes, the bonding situation, and the binding energy (ΔE). The nature of the imprinting effect was also studied by topological analysis. The theoretical results indicated that the optimum molar ratio was 1 : 5. The ultraviolet spectra showed that the complex with the molar ratio 1 : 5 showed the largest absorbance at λ = 216 nm. The apparent maximum adsorption quantity (Qmax) was 17.24 mg g−1. In this study, the DCD-MIPs displayed good adsorption properties towards DCD, which could be applied for the separation and detection of DCD in a complex matrix.

Theoretical design and selectivity researches on the enrofloxacin imprinted polymer

In this paper, enrofloxacin (ENRO) was chosen as the template molecule, 4-vinylpyridine (4-Vpy), acrylamide (AM), trifluoromethacrylic acid (TFMAA), and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) were selected as the functional monomers, with the following cross-linking agents, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA), pentaerythritol triacrylate (PETA), and trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TRIM). The stable complex configurations formed by ENRO and four monomers at the molar ratio of 1:1 were calculated using the density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level. Their natural bond orbital charges and the action sites were discussed to screen the appropriate functional monomer. The optimal molar ratio of template–monomer complex and the effects of cross-linking agent were investigated. The nature of the imprinting interaction was also researched via the infrared spectrum. The results reveal that the complex formed from ENRO and TFMAA has the strongest hydrogen bond interaction. When the molar ratio is 1:7, the complex has the most stable configuration. Owning to the weakest interaction between EDMA and ENRO, and the strongest interaction between EDMA and TFMAA, EDMA is considered as the suitable cross-linking agent, in comparison with PETA and TRIM for ENRO-MIPs. After the removal of ENRO molecule, the most stable ENRO-TFMAA complex owing to the better binding capacity to ENRO is compared with its structural analogues (ciprofloxacin, sparfloxacin, pefloxacin, ofloxacin, and sarafloxacin). This study provides a reliable theoretical guidance for the preparation of new ENRO-MIPs.