Titania-based molecularly imprinted polymer for sulfonic acid dyes prepared by sol–gel method

A novel titania-based molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthesized through sol–gel process with sunset yellow (Sun) as template, without use of functional monomer. MIP was used as a solid-phase extraction material for the isolation and enrichment of sulfonic acid dyes in beverages. The results showed that MIP exhibited better selectivity, higher recovery and adsorption capacity for the sulfonic acid dyes compared to the non-imprinted polymer (NIP). MIP presented highest extraction selectivity to Sun when pH less than or equal to 3. The adsorption capacity was 485.9 mg g−1, which was larger than that of NIP (384.7 mg g−1). The better clean-up ability demonstrated the capability of MIP for the isolation and enrichment of sulfonic acid dyes in complicated food samples. The mean recoveries for the sulfonic acid dyes on MIP were from 81.9% to 97.2% in spiked soft drink.