Molecularly imprinted composite membrane for selective binding and permeation of lovastatin acid from aqueous solutions was developed by means of target analogue imprinting strategy. To improve mechanical stability of the membrane, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) ultrafiltration membrane was used as support. The thin imprinted layer was formed by copolymerization of methacrylic acid (MAA) as functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA) as cross-linker in the presence of lovastatin as dummy template in acetonitrile solution. The attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to visualize surface and cross-sections of membranes to gain better understanding in the analysis of imprinted layer deposited on PVDF Support membranes. The modification degrees are 2.28 and 2.40 mg/cm(2) for imprinted and non-imprinted membranes, respectively, and the saturated binding capacity of imprinted membrane is about 0.25 mu mol/cm(2), nearly 10 times of that of non-imprinted one. The permeation performances of membranes were evaluated through kinetic filtration experiments. It was found that the diffusive selectivity of imprinted membrane could be adjusted by varying the pH of the feed solutions and operation pressure of the filtration system. The transport selectivity shown at higher pH value should be attributed to not only the electrostatic interactions and/or hydrogen bonding between the permeants and membranes but also to hydrophobic effect between permeants and aqueous medium. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.