Biomimetic Dual-Layer Imprinted UiO-66-Based Basswood Membranes for Ibuprofen Recognition and Separation

MOF/basswood-based nanocomposite molecularly imprinted membranes had been smoothly compounded on the surface of three-dimensional (3D) basswood materials. Metal–organic framework (MOF) UiO-66-based particles were uniformly encapsulated onto the 3D basswood membranes (BMs) by pretreating basswood with sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The polydopamine (PDA)-based imprinting structure was initially prepared on the as-obtained UiO-66-modified basswood at the first time. A sol–gel imprinting course was then implemented to gain the biomimetic double-layer imprinting based on MOFs grown in situ on BMs (BD-MOF/BMs). Importantly, ibuprofen (IBP) was used as the template molecule throughout the whole dual-imprinted process. Therefore, the sandwich-like double-imprinted layers of IBP could be finally constructed in the BD-MOF/BMs. Abundant IBP-imprinted sites had been obtained in BD-MOF/BMs based on the in situ growth of UiO-66 and dual-imprinted processes, in which the as-prepared BD-MOF/BMs showed particularly high rebinding capacity (120.6 mg g–1) and fast adsorption kinetics. Moreover, the as-prepared PDA-modified surface was not only employed for the first IBP-imprinted layers but also applied to the further construction of the subsequent imprinting sites of IBP; the as-obtained permselectivity coefficients of BD-MOF/BMs were all more than 4.8 based on the selective separation experiments. The stability of the membrane was continuously assessed using dynamic permeation. Finally, the aforementioned experimental results and the approach to environmental protection synthesis demonstrate that our method of BD-MOF/BM synthesis holds significant promise for use in a variety of fields, including selective separation, the chemical industry, the environment, and others.