Upconversion Nanophosphor-Involved Molecularly Imprinted Fluorescent Polymers for Sensitive and Specific Recognition of Sterigmatocystin

Abstract

Abstract:Originated from the bottom-up synthetic strategy, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) possess the inherent ability of selective and specific recognition and binding of the target analytes, with their structural cavities that can match the target molecules in respect to size, shape, and functional groups. Herein, based on the high selectivity of MIPs and the fluorescence properties of the β-NaYF 4 :Yb 3+ , Er 3+ upconversion nanoparticles, MIPs with both specificity and fluorescent signals are fabricated to recognize trace sterigmatocystin (ST) with high selectivity and sensitivity. The structure analogue of ST, 1,8-dihydroxyanthraquinone (DT), was employed as the template molecule, acrylamide as the functional monomer, 3-methacryloyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane as the crosslinking agent, and a new molecular imprinting technique of non-aqueous sol-gel method is used to synthesize a molecularly imprinted material with high selectivity to ST. Under optimal conditions, the fluorescence enhancement of fluorescent MIPs increased as the concentration of ST increased. In the range of 0.05-1.0 mg L −1 , fluorescence enhancement and the concentration showed a good linear relationship with a detection limit of 0.013 mg L −1 . Real sample analysis achieved the recoveries of 83.8-88.8% (RSD 5.1%) for rice, 82.1-87.5% (RSD 4.6%) for maize, and 80.6-89.2% (RSD 3.0%) for soybeans, respectively, revealing the feasibility of the developed method.

Interaction of LiYF4:Yb3+/Er3+/Ho3+/Tm3+@LiYF4:Yb3+ upconversion nanoparticles, molecularly imprinted polymers, and templates

“…Even though some of the nanocomposites of MIP with UCNPs have been used as a uorescence determination platform, [13][14][15][16][17] very few investigations focusing on understanding the polymer-template-UCNPs interactions and their relationship to material performance have been carried out. Therefore, this work focuses on the study of the interaction between the different functional monomers, templates, and UCNPs to provide guidance for the design of nanocomposites of UCNPs with MIPs (UCNPs@MIP).…”

Preparation and Evaluation of Core–Shell Magnetic Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for Solid-Phase Extraction and Determination of Sterigmatocystin in Food

“…The dummy template should possess the similar structure and physicochemical property to the target molecules and scarcely present in the related sample matrix to avoid possible interference. In the previously-reported work, DT was a widely-used dummy template molecule for imprinting of ST, due to the high price and toxicity of ST [ 22 , 24 ]. Therefore, the magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers for recognizing ST specifically were synthesized using DT as the dummy template molecule, which has similar structure with ST and hardly presents in the grain samples.…”

“…In recent years, with the involvement of nano/micro-structures as functional core, such as magnetic Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles [ 19 ], quantum dots [ 20 , 21 ], carbon nanomaterials [ 22 ], and upconversion nanoparticles [ 23 , 24 ], surface imprinting technique appeared as the advantageous protocol for fabrication of advanced MIPs materials with diverse functionalities. Therein, magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (MMIPs), prepared via fabrication of the MIPs on the surface of a magnetic substrate, combined the outstanding magnetism with specific selective binding capability for target molecules, favoring rapid and easy removal of magnetic polymers from sample matrix by applying a magnetic field without the need for tedious filtration or centrifugation [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ].…”

Embedded Upconversion Nanoparticles in Magnetic Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for Photodynamic Therapy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

“…Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were initially developed about half a century ago, and are used in biomedical delivery [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ] and sensing [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]. MIPs have been combined with UCNPs to make fluorescent sensors, for example, for the specific recognition of sterigmatocystin [ 14 ]. MIPs combined with silica-coated UCNPs have been synthesized for the detection of ochratoxin A in corn, rice, and feed [ 15 ].…”