Melamine acoustic chemosensor based on molecularly imprinted polymer film

A melamine piezomicrogravimetric (acoustic) chemosensor using a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) film has been devised and tested. The MIP films were prepared by electropolymerization of the melamine complexed by the functional monomer of the bis(bithiophene) derivative bearing an 18-crown-6 substituent 4. The structure of the MIP-melamine complex was visualized by the DFT B3LYP/3-21G(*) energy optimization calculations. The sensitivity and selectivity of the MIP film was improved by cross-linking the polymer with the bithianaphthene monomer 5 and the presence of the porogenic ionic liquid in the prepolymerization solution. After electropolymerization, the melamine template was extracted from the MIP film with an aqueous strong base solution. The measurements of UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), DPV, and EIS as well as scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) imaging confirmed extraction of the melamine template from the MIP film and then rebinding of the melamine analyte while the film relative roughness and porosity was determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging, respectively. The analytical as well as kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of the chemosensing were assessed under flow-injection analysis (FIA) conditions with piezoelectric microgravimetry (PM) detection. The linear concentration range for melamine detection was 5 nM to at least 1 mM with a limit of detection of approximately 5 nM. The chemosensor successfully discriminated the cyanuric acid, cyromazine, and ammeline interfering agents.