Development of an imprinted polymeric sensor with dual sensing property for trace level estimation of zinc and arginine

•Herein, single target imprinted polymer with dual sensing property was prepared.•Methionine derivative monomer was synthesized which provide biocompatible polymer.•Dual sensing polymer was used to fabricate a sensor for Zn2 + & arginine detection.•LOD for Zn2 + & arginine estimation was found 18.0 and 15.0 pg mL− 1, respectively.

Using virtuousness of multi-template imprinting and selectivity of single-template imprinting, for the first time, we have prepared an imprinted polymer matrix that can detect two target analyte viz., Zn2 + and arginine in single motif. For the preparation of imprinted polymer network, a new monomer {2-acrylamido-4-(methylthio)butanoic acid} was synthesized, which gives a biocompatible polymer network. Herein, the synthesized imprinted polymer mixed with multi-walled carbon nanotubes was immobilized onto the surface of platinum electrode to develop an electrochemical sensor for quantitative recognition of Zn2 + and arginine using differential pulse voltammetry. Cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and chronocoulometric analysis were also performed to study the kinetics of zinc–arginine complex. Under the optimal conditions the linear range of the calibration curve for Zn2 + and arginine was 0.04–310.0 ng mL− 1 and 0.04–235.0 ng mL− 1, with the detection limit of 18.0 and 15.0 pg mL− 1. The sensor has been successfully applied to the determination of Zn2 + and arginine in water, food, and pharmaceutical samples and achieved high sensitivity and selectivity.

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