ABSTRACT

As MIPs make the gradual transition from the academic research laboratory to application areas, it is essential that the MIP is designed, both chemically and structurally, to optimise its performance in that particular application. The optimisation of the chemi­ cal design is discussed elsewhere in this volume. In this review, progress in* the development of methods for the synthesis of MIPs in controlled and predefined forms is presented. Such meth­ ods allow the structural form of the polymer to be selected based on the most desirable proper­ ties of the material for the application under consideration. Methods to make MIPs in the form of size-defined spherical particles (at the micro or nano scale), monoliths, films (both thick and thin) and moulded microstructures have all been published in the last few years and are summarised here. It should be noted that the synthetic conditions required to form a specific type of polymer structure are not necessarily compatible with the conditions required for opti­ mal imprinting of the template. All of the methods discussed, however, have been shown to have utility in at least one area of imprinting.