Metallothionein (MT) imprinted TiO2 membrane was synthesized via surface sol-gel process, using MTas template and TiO2 sol as imprinted matrix. Appropriate template cavities in the TiO2 sol-gel membrane were formed after the template molecules were removed on treatment with 1% NaOH solution. In situ technique of quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) was employed to study the molecular imprinting behavior of MT on nanocrystalline titania membranes. The imprinted membrane showed selectivity recognition for MTas compared to the other proteins. The amount of adsorption increased with the increasing of MT concentration both on imprinted membrane and non-imprinted membrane. The adsorption amount increased with the increasing of pH on imprinted membrane. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.