@article{chen06a, author = {Yin-Chu Chen and Zheming Wang and Mingdi Yan and Scott A. Prahl}, title = {Fluorescence Anisotropy Study of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers}, journal = {Luminescence}, volume = {21}, pages = {7-14}, year = {2006}, abstract = {A molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) is a biomimetic material that can be used as a biochemical sensing element. We studied the steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence and fluorescence anisotropy of anthracene imprinted polyurethane. We compared MIPs with imprinted analytes present, MIPs with the imprinted analytes extracted, MIPs with rebound analytes, non-imprinted control polymers (non-MIPs), and non-MIPs bound with analytes to understand MIP's binding behavior. MIPs and non-MIPs had similar steady-state fluorescence anisotropy in the range of 0.11--0.24. Anthracene rebound in MIPs and non-MIPs had a fluorescence lifetime $\tau$=0.64\,ns and a rotational correlation time $\phi_F$=1.2--1.5\,ns, both of which were shorter than that of MIPs with imprinted analytes present ($\tau$=2.03\,ns and $\phi_F$=2.7\,ns). The steady-state anisotropy of polymer solutions increased exponentially with polymerization time and might be used to characterize the polymerization extent \textit{in-situ}.}, }