With the rapid development of industry, the discharge of heavy metal-containing wastewater poses a significant threat to aquatic and terrestrial environments as well as human health. This paper provides a brief introduction to the basic principles of ion-imprinted polymer preparation and focuses on the interaction between template ions and functional monomers. We summarized the current research status on typical heavy metal ions, such as Cu(II), Ni(II), Cd(II), Hg(II), Pb(II), and Cr(VI), as well as metalloid metal ions of the As and Sb classes. Furthermore, it discusses recent advances in multi-ion-imprinted polymers. Finally, the paper addresses the challenges faced by ion-imprinted technology and explores its prospects for application.

The microstructure of a mixed KCl and K₂SO₄ aqueous solution was studied using X-ray scattering (XRS), Raman spectroscopy, and molecular dynamics simulation (MD). Reduced structure functions [F(Q)], reduced pair distribution functions [G(r)], Raman spectrum, and pair distribution functions (PDF) were obtained. The XRS results show that the main peak (r = 2.81 Å) of G(r) shifted to the right of the axis (r = 3.15 Å) with increased KCl and decreased K₂SO₄. The main peak was at r = 3.15 Å when the KCl concentration was 26.00% and the K₂SO₄ concentration was 0.00%. It is speculated that this phenomenon was caused by the main interaction changing, from K-O_W (r = 2.80 Å) and O_W-O_W (r = 2.80 Å), to Cl⁻-O_W (r = 3.14 Å) and K⁺-Cl⁻ (r = 3.15 Å). According to the trend of the hydrogen bond structure in the Raman spectrum, when the concentration of KCl was high and K₂SO₄ was low, the destruction of the tetrahedral hydrogen bond network in the solution was more serious. This shows that the destruction strength of the anion to the hydrogen bond network structure in solution was Cl⁻ > SO₄²⁻. In the MD simulations, the coordination number of O_W-O_W decreased with increasing KCl concentration, indicating that the tetrahedral hydrogen bond network was severely disrupted, which confirmed the results of the Raman spectroscopy. The hydration radius and coordination number of SO₄²⁻ in the mixed solution were larger than Cl⁻, thus revealing the reason why the solubility of KCl in water was greater than that of K₂SO₄ at room temperature.