Molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor based on nickel nanoparticle-modified electrodes for phenobarbital determination

• Uniform Ni nanoparticles were synthesized.
• A Ni nanoparticle-modified imprinted sensor was developed to detect phenobarbital.
• The modified sensor exhibited high sensitivity for phenobarbital.
• The electrochemical properties of the modified sensor were investigated.
• The prepared sensor was applied to detect phenobarbital in fish samples.

Uniform nickel nanoparticles were applied to improve the sensitivity of sensors for phenobarbital (PB) determination. A Ni nanoparticle-modified imprinted electrochemical sensor was developed by thermal polymerization with the use of methacrylic acid as the functional monomer and ethylene glycol maleic rosinate acrylate as the crosslinking agent. The chemical structures and morphologies of the imprinted films were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The success of the fabrication of Ni nanoparticles, as well as the Ni nanoparticle-modified imprinted electrochemical sensor, was confirmed by the analytical results. The electrochemical properties of the modified molecularly imprinted and non-imprinted polymer sensors were investigated by cyclic voltammetry, differential pulse voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and chronoamperometry. Results showed that the electrochemical properties of the molecularly imprinted sensor were remarkably different from those of the non-imprinted sensor. Linear responses of the imprinted sensor to PB were observed for concentrations ranging from 1.4 × 10−7 mol L−1 to 1.3 × 10−4 mol L−1 (r2 = 0.9976), with a detection limit of 8.2 × 10−9 mol L−1 (S/N = 3). The imprinted electrochemical sensor was used to determine PB in actual fish samples, in which average recoveries between 95.60% and 104.67% were achieved. The developed Ni nanoparticle-modified electrochemical sensor exhibited high sensitivity, high selectivity, and good recovery.