Molecularly imprinted Au-nanoparticle composite-functionalized EQCM sensor for l-serine

- Molecularly imprinted Au-nanoparticle composite-functionalized EQCM sensor
- Imprinting matrix composed of Au-nanoparticle functionalized with 4-ATP
- 4-ATP electropolymerized on self assembled monolayer (SAM) of 4-ATP
- Electrochemical-MIP sensor show enantioselectivity, high specificity to l-ser.

Here, a piezoelectric sensor to assess l-serine (L-ser) through functionalized Au nanoparticles on EQCM electrode is fabricated via molecular imprinting. Molecular imprinting, an alternative to natural molecular recognition phenomena, is a robust methodology where polymerization of monomers in the presence of a target molecule imprints structural information into resulting network polymers. Molecular imprinting is being proposed for the development of novel biorecognition techniques for human health and bioterrorism protection technologies. Here, imprinting matrix was prepared by AuNPs functionalized with 4-ATP electropolymerized on self assembled monolayer (SAM) formed by 4-amino thiophenol (4-ATP) on the surface of gold layer coated on EQCM electrode in presence of l-ser as template. Various parameters were optimized for controlling the performance of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-sensor such as the number of electropolymerization cycles, mass deposited in each cycle, pH, etc. The prepared electrochemical-MIP sensor showed good enantioselectivity and was highly specific towards l-serine. In the optimal condition, the response of the MIP sensor to l-ser was linearly proportional to its concentration with limit of detection (LOD) as 0.41 μM. Hence, a facile, specific and selective piezo-electrogravimmetric MIP sensor using surface-grafted specific molecular contours is developed for specific and selective uptake of l-ser in presence of various interferrants, in different kinds of matrices.

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