Fluorescent molecularly imprinted polymer film binds glucose with a concomitant changes in fluorescence

A fluorescent molecularly imprinted polymeric formulation capable of picking up glucose from aqueous media is reported. The fluorescence intensity of the polymer film was found to reduce proportionally with the concentration of glucose facilitating its use as a glucose sensing element. We used commercially available tear fluid to demonstrate the ability of the film to recognize glucose among other sugar molecules. Fluorescence was measured after equilibrating the film in tear fluid in the presence of a mixture of different sugars. We observed a reduction in fluorescence intensity due to the nonspecific binding of the sugars. The intensity remains the same even if we added additional quantities of the sugars. Interestingly, the fluorescence intensity of the film was found to decrease proportionally when varied concentrations of glucose was added indicating the ability of the film to recognize and bind glucose from a mixture of other sugars. Detectable changes in fluorescence intensity were observed with a concentration of 10 μg/mL of glucose. The results show that the polymer film could be used for detecting glucose in aqueous fluids such as tear.