BACKGROUND Synthesis of molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) by conventional methods is a tedious process due to the necessity for toxic organic solvents, chemicals and thermal activation for the free radical generation of initiators. In this study, a new MIP is synthesized using only the action of biopolymer blend cross-linking in the presence of BSA as a template. RESULTS The characteristics of the MIP were investigated using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, SEM, X-ray diffraction and zeta potential analyses. The effects of cross-linking density in imprinting efficiency, and the influence of pH and ionic strength in the loading of BSA into MIP were investigated. The adsorption isotherms of BSA onto MIP and nonimprinted polymer (NIP) were determined by a Langmuir model and showed a maximum binding capacity of 95.73 mg g(-1) for MIP and 76.08 mg g(-1) for NIP. CONCLUSION The porous structure formed in the polymer blend of MIP enables easy access of proteins by diffusion as clearly shown in an SEM image. Compared with the NIP blends, the MIP blends demonstrated much higher adsorption capacity due to the presence of multiple hydrogen bonds and covalent bond interaction between the imprinted cavities and template proteins. The merits of this novel technique include elimination of a complex polymerization reaction, toxic volatile organic solvents and free radical initiators. Thus, this new way of strategy will be a promising trend for the future preparation of environmentally benign molecular imprinted polymer materials. (c) 2018 Society of Chemical Industry