Molecularly imprinted poly(meta-phenylenediamine) based {QCM} sensor for detecting Amoxicillin

By Ayankojo, Akinrinade George; Reut, Jekaterina; Boroznjak, Roman;
Published in Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical 2018

Abstract

A chemical sensor based on molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) to detect amoxicillin (AMO) antibiotics in aqueous samples was developed. The thin film of AMO-MIP was generated electrochemically from meta-phenylenediamine (mPD) directly on the {QCM} transducer. Pre-polymerization complex formation between the template (AMO) and the monomer molecules (mPD) was confirmed by a combination of computational modeling and spectroscopic studies. The electrodeposition process was carefully studied to allow for the selection of the optimal parameters for stable AMO-MIP film deposition. The AMO-MIP {QCM} sensor showed a significantly better sensitivity and affinity than the reference film displaying more than seven times relative adsorption capacity and a limit of detection down to 0.2 nM. Likewise, the sensor demonstrates good selectivity to the target analyte (AMO) than the other non-templated molecules and remain sensitive to the target even after a prior exposure to other interferents that may be present within the same environment. This remarkable result in the analysis of amoxicillin on {QCM} sensor without employing any signal amplification methodology demonstrates an important step towards the fabrication of MIP-based environmental sensor.

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