Electrochemical sensor based on molecular imprinting by photo-sensitive polymers

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science
• Polymer Chemistry

Background:

• Accurate glucose monitoring is crucial for diabetes management.
• Developing selective and sensitive electrochemical sensors is an ongoing challenge.
• Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) offer tailored recognition sites for specific analytes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel voltammetric sensor for glucose determination using photo-sensitive molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs).
• To investigate the electrochemical behavior and performance of the MIPs sensor for glucose detection.
• To evaluate the sensor's selectivity, sensitivity, and applicability in complex samples.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a MIPs film on a gold electrode surface via in-situ UV-initiated cross-linking of photo-sensitive polymers.
• Electrochemical analysis of glucose using square wave voltammetry in an alkaline medium.
• Assessment of sensor performance including selectivity, detection limit, response time, repeatability, and accuracy in simulated blood serum.

Main Results:

• The MIPs sensor exhibited a linear response to glucose in the range of 5.0–120 µM with a detection limit of 0.2 µg/mL.
• High selectivity for glucose over structurally similar sugars like maltose, arabinose, and mannose was observed.
• The sensor demonstrated rapid response (within 7 min), good repeatability (RSD 5.0%), and high average recovery (92.6%) in simulated blood serum samples.

Conclusions:

• A facile and efficient method for constructing a voltammetric glucose sensor based on photo-sensitive MIPs was established.
• The developed MIPs sensor offers adequate sensitivity, good repeatability, accuracy, and acceptable selectivity for glucose determination.
• This sensor presents a promising alternative for practical glucose monitoring applications.