Capacitive detection in ultrathin chemosensors prepared by molecularly imprinted grafting photopolymerization

The usual applications of capacitive detection in chemo- and biosensors are based on changes in effective thickness of insulating layers due to adsorption of analyte onto receptors. Ultrathin chemosensors based on molecularly imprinted polymerization enable a realization of another capacitive approach that exploits changes in electrical capacitance due to modification of the dielectric constant of the polymer. Such chemosensors were prepared by photografted molecularly imprinted polymerization on the surface of gold electrodes. An adsorbed layer of hydrophobic photoinitiator (benzophenone) provided grafted polymerization on the surface of the alkanethiol-modified gold electrode. The chemosensors were characterized by cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy, and scanning electron and atomic force microscopy. Binding of analyte was detected by measurements of electrical capacitance. The results indicate a decrease of the dielectric constant of the polymer layer due to analyte binding up to 20%.