The template effect is considered the most important feature of ion imprinted polymer (IIP) technology. However, there is still a certain gap in the theoretical and practical application of template effects. In this study, we propose a method to control the template effect of IIPs by adjusting the crosslinking ratio. A series of Cr (VI) - IIPs with different crosslinking agent contents were synthesized. On the basis of qualitative analysis of coordination selectivity and template effect, a theoretical equation for the template effect generated by crosslinking agents was established using the Scatchard equation. In the Cr (VI) removal process, when the molar ratio of functional monomer to crosslinking agent is 1/5.46, the contribution of template effect begins to exceed that of coordination effect, and with the increase of crosslinking agent content, the template effect is further enhanced. In practical wastewater treatment applications, IIP-1/12 and IIP-1/6 designed based on the obtained equation can effectively treat two different types of wastewater. The standardized equation and design concept proposed in this study theoretically demonstrate the effect of crosslinking agents on material selectivity. This provides greater flexibility for the design and application of template effects in ion imprinting technology.

    The effect of crosslinking agents on the template effect of polymers: Taking anionic imprinted polymers as an example dataset, experimental methods were used to obtain data in decimal (. xls) format, with a data volume of 13 groups and a total of 720 experimental data.