Drugs are constantly being introduced into the environment, and their consumption is constantly increasing due to the emergence of new diseases and number of diseases. They all end up in the water, so it is necessary to work on improving existing and developing new analytical protocols for their determination. Due to the large number of components that can be found in real samples, especially in situations where compounds of different polarity are present in the sample, the sample preparation for analysis with commercial sorbents is insufficient. On the other hand, the problem also occurs in various water treatment processes, since the vast majority of organic pollutants, including pharmaceuticals, are persistent and difficult to degrade in the environment.

The MIPdePharma project will address the preparation of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) with target molecule in different ways in the studied application area (sample preparation, sorption and photocatalysis), all with the aim of solving the above problems. This will be achieved by performing a large number of experiments, reviewing the literature and based on the physicochemical properties of the target molecule through the synergy between experienced researchers in the fields of analytical chemistry, environmental science, materials chemistry and computational chemistry. The application of computational chemistry will involve the prediction of the most favorable structure of the studied systems, which should influence the direction of further experiments, and will significantly shorten the process of their preparation and reduce the use of a large amount of the standard substance of the pharmaceutical target required for MIP. At the end, the obtained MIP efficiency will be tested. For sample preparation, it will be compared with the efficiency of commercially sorbents, while for the development of innovative wastewater treatment technologies, the energy efficiency of each process will be determined.