Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) are artificial receptors fabricated through Molecularly Imprinted Technology, an interesting and emerging technique, which consists in creating cavities with the shape of a chosen template, within a polymeric matrix. So, MIPs can exhibit selectivity and specificity for a predetermined analyte, used in the imprinting procedure, and their aim is to mimic natural molecular recognition mechanism, typical of biological receptors. Additionally, MIPs present several advantages, like superior physical robustness and strength, resilience to elevated temperatures and pressures, lower cost, ease of preparation, and versatility in the choice of template, compared to biological receptors. Due to these characteristics, MIPs are gaining widespread attention over the last few decades in a variety of scientific and technological sectors, like drug delivery, artificial antibodies, chemobiosensing, separation science, purification, assay and sensors, and catalysis.
This thesis is focused on the development of 3D printed MIPs, using Digital Light Processing (DLP) technique, which allows the creation of complex and self-standing 3D structures