Synthesis and Characterization of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for the Rapid and Selective Determination of Oxytetracycline in Chicken Boiler Meat

ABSTRACT Oxytetracycline (OTC) residues in poultry meat products can develop antibiotic resistance in humans who consume them. Therefore, sensitive analytical techniques are required to measure the quantities of OTC residues to establish whether these commodities are safe for consumption. The study used molecular imprinting technology to create a sorbent for measuring OTC in chicken broiler meat products. The computational methods utilized in the early phases of the research to choose functional monomers were validated using the association constant (Ka) and Job plot. We synthesized molecularly imprinting polymers (MIPs) using two different manufacturing processes, which we then examined. The bond energy‐based computational investigation indicated that hydroxyethyl methacrylic acid (HEMA) was the ideal functional monomer at an OTC‐to‐HEMA molar ratio of 1:4. We examined the Ka for OTC and HEMA in various solvents. The highest Ka was obtained by combining methanol and chloroform. The Job plot showed that an OTC‐to‐HEMA molar ratio of 1:4 was best for synthesizing imprinted polymer in the mixture of methanol and chloroform. We created MIPs using two alternative manufacturing techniques, bulk (MIP1) and precipitation (MIP2), with the ratio set by the Job plot. Physical testing using FT‐IR, SEM, PSA, and BET demonstrated a successful synthesis with a spherical and uniform agglomeration of particles with particle diameters of MIP1 and MIP2, respectively, 0.21 μm and 0.19 μm. The surface areas of MIP1 and MIP2 were 186,416 and 264,486 m2/g, respectively. The findings of the adsorption capacity study show that MIP1 fits the Langmuir model well, whereas MIP2 fits the Freundlich model better. OTC recovery rates in spike‐chicken meat were 81,42% ± 3,6% when MIP1 was applied and 95,30% ± 2.2% when MIP2 was used. The results of the selectivity test also showed that MIP2 is more effective than MIP1 and that it can remove OTC from chicken meat that has been spiked while taking another antibiotic. The investigation results show that MIP2 influences the measurement of OTC in spike chicken meat.