Sub-nanomolar detection of zinc on the ion-imprinted polymer modified glassy carbon electrode

• A glassy carbon electrode modified with zinc ion-imprinted polymers.
• Modified electrode was used for the detection of sub-nanomolar amounts of zinc.
• The GC/IIP modified electrode revealed a significant improvement for zinc detection.
• The electrode exhibited a linear response within a range of 5 × 10−10 to 1 × 10−8 mol L−1.

A glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with zinc ion-imprinted polymers (GC/IIP) was used for the determination of sub-nanomolar amounts of zinc in the tap water samples by means of anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV). The GC/IIP modified electrode revealed a significant improvement for zinc detection compared with the bare GCE. Zinc ion-imprinted polymers were synthesized by thermal polymerization and zinc ions were removed by leaching the IIP by HCl and after drying in the oven, utilized for the electrode modification. The potential was scanned from −0.3 V to +0.4 V versus Ag/AgCl and variable affecting parameters such as pH, deposition duration time, deposition potential and stirring speed were optimized for ASV detection. The resulting calibration curve exhibited a linear response within a concentration range of 5 × 10−10 to 1 × 10−8 M with a low detection limit of 0.5 nM. Finally, the method was successfully applied to the determination of water samples.

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