Molecularly imprinted photonic hydrogels for fast screening of atropine in biological samples with high sensitivity

Based on molecularly imprinted photonic hydrogels (MIPHs) that combined the colloidal-crystal with molecular imprinting technique, a novel label-free colorimetric chemosensor for convenient and fast efficient detection of atropine with high sensitivity and specificity was developed. Due to the special inverse opal arrays with a thin polymer wall in which the imprinted nanocavities of atropine moleculars distributed, the proposed MIPHs designed as water-compatible exhibited high sensitive (as low as 1 pg/mL), rapid responsive (less than 30 s) and specific detection of atropine in complex matrix. The unique three-dimensional, highly-ordered photonic hydrogels would be obviously swelling in response to the specific atropine molecular recognition process and the response would be directly transferred into visually perceptible optical signal (change in color) that could be detected by the naked eye through Bragg diffractive shifts of ordered macroporous arrays. With a broad concentration range varying from 1 pg/mL to 1 μg/mL of atropine, the distinct color changes of MIPHs almost covered the whole visible-light wavelength range from blue to red for semi-quantitative analysis. The smart chemosensor was successfully employed to determine the trace level atropine in human urine samples, providing a fast and effective alternative for semi-quantitative detection of atropine for clinical analysis and forensic investigations.