Molecularly imprinted polymer decorated nanoporous gold for highly selective and sensitive electrochemical sensors

Abstract

Electrochemical nanosensors based on nanoporous gold leaf (NPGL) and molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) are developed for pharmaceutical analysis by using metronidazole (MNZ) as a model analyte. NPGL, serving as the loading platform for MIP immobilization, possesses large accessible surface area with superb electric conductivity, while electrochemically synthesized MIP thin layer affords selectivity for specific recognition of MNZ molecules. For MNZ determination, the hybrid electrode shows two dynamic linear range of 5 × 10−11 to 1 × 10−9 mol L−1 and 1 × 10−9 to 1.4 × 10−6 mol L−1 with a remarkably low detection limit of 1.8 × 10−11 mol L−1 (S/N = 3). In addition, the sensor exhibits high binding affinity and selectivity towards MNZ with excellent reproducibility and stability. Finally, the reliability of MIP-NPGL for MNZ detection is proved in real fish tissue samples, demonstrating the potential for the proposed electrochemical sensors in monitoring drug and biological samples.

Strategies for Molecular Imprinting and the Evolution of MIP Nanoparticles as Plastic Antibodies—Synthesis and Applications

“…Representative examples include MIP-based QCM sensors for human rhinovirus immunoglobulins [154], tobacco mosaic virus [155], and Salmonella paratyphi [34]. MIP films were deposited on the sensor surface via surface grafting [156,157] or electropolymerization [158,159]. MIPs were incorporated into QCM sensors [160], optical sensors [161,162], and electrochemical sensors [163].…”

Novel Electrochemical Sensing Platform Based on a Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Decorated 3D Nanoporous Nickel Skeleton for Ultrasensitive and Selective Determination of Metronidazole

“…Different methods have been reported for detecting MNZ, such as spectrophotometry, 10,11 thin-layer chromatography, 12 gas chromatography, 13 high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), 14 and electrochemistry. 5,7,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Some of these strategies suffer from disadvantages including involvement of time-consuming manipulation steps, requirement of sophisticated equipments and skilled operators, consumption of large amount of organic reagent, etc. 26,27 Among them, electroanalytical sensing technique has been proved to be an attractive route owing to its high sensitivity, simplicity, rapid analysis period, and low-cost apparatus.…”

“…26,27 Among them, electroanalytical sensing technique has been proved to be an attractive route owing to its high sensitivity, simplicity, rapid analysis period, and low-cost apparatus. 5,7,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] As a key component in sensor system, sensing agent has drawn numerous attempts both in material itself and in modification strategy. Among multifarious approaches, molecular imprinting technique, [28][29][30] which could produce polymeric network owning specific binding sites, has become a powerful tool for the preparation of sensitive agents with predetermined recognition capacity for chem/bio-species of interest.…”

Electrochemical nanosensors: advances and applications

“…As a result of the versatility and variety of nanoelectrode devices, they have been employed for the detection of a large range of medically relevant analytes ranging from small molecules such as dopamine [32][33][34] and histamine 35 to larger, more complex targets like bacteria 36 or pharmaceutical drugs. 37,38 Enzyme based biosensors have long been of interest because of the selectivity of enzymes as biorecognition elements. 39 This selectivity combined with the recent developments in nanoelectrochemistry has led to the emergence of highly specific and sensitive biosensors.…”