ZnO/C nanocomposite grafted molecularly imprinted polymers as photoelectrochemical sensing interface for ultrasensitive and selective detection of chloramphenicol

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2023-02, Vol.859 (Pt 1), p.160284-160284, Article 160284
• Main Authors: Zhang, Huafang, Kang, Zewen, Zhu, Hu, Lin, Hetong, Yang, Da-Peng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biosensing Techniques - methods; Chloramphenicol; Electrochemical Techniques - methods; Limit of Detection; Molecular Imprinting - methods; Molecularly imprinted polymer; Molecularly Imprinted Polymers; Nanocomposites; PEC sensor; ZnO/C
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160284

Nanomaterials-based photoelectrochemical (PEC) detection is becoming a rapidly-developing analytical technique in chemical and biological assays due to its unique advantages of easy miniaturization, high sensitivity, and rapid turnaround time. Herein, a molecularly imprinted polymer-assisted PEC sensor based on ZnO/C nanocomposite was successfully fabricated for the highly sensitive and selective determination of chloramphenicol (CAP). Benefiting from the hydrophilic functional groups (-OH, -COOH) and large surface area of bio-templated ZnO/C nanocomposite, the tight grafting of MIP with excellent recognition ability on substrate is easier and more stable than traditional PEC sensor, thus significantly increasing the performance. Under optimal conditions, the PEC sensor exhibited significant CAP detection performance in the range of 0.01–5000 ng mL−1 with a detection LOD of 5.08 pg mL−1 (S/N = 3) and successfully applied to the detection of CAP in milk sample. Our results show that ZnO/C nanocomposite and MIP can act as an efficient photo-responsible matrix to fabricate PEC sensor, providing important application potentials for pollutants control in food and environment. [Display omitted] •A rapid and ultrasensitive signal-off MIPs-PEC sensor was developed for CAP detection.•ZnO/C was used as photoelectrical converter of the sensor.•The grafting of MIPs improved the selectivity and sensitivity of the sensor.•The method was extended to the actual samples detection and the possible mechanisms were proposed.