Electrochemical cholesterol sensor based on carbon nanotube@molecularly imprinted polymer modified ceramic carbon electrode

•A monolithic MIP sensor based on CCE has been reported.•The CCE-based MIP sensor can be renewed simply by polishing.•The as-prepared cholesterol sensor shows good sensitivity.•CCE provides a new versatile platform for constructing monolithic MIP sensors.

A monolithic molecular imprinting sensor based on ceramic carbon electrode (CCE) has been reported. The sensor can be renewed simply by smoothing. It was fabricated by thoroughly mixing multiwalled carbon nanotube@molecularly imprinted polymer (MWCNT@MIP), graphite powder, and silicon alkoxide, and then packing the resulting complex mixture of components firmly into the electrode cavity of a Teflon sleeve. The incorporated MWCNT@MIP in CCEs functioned as a recognition element for cholesterol determination. The MWCNT@MIP-CCEs were tested in the presence or absence of cholesterol by cyclic voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry. The cholesterol sensor has excellent sensitivity with a linear range of 10–300 nM and a detection limit of 1 nM (S/N=3). The monolithic molecular imprinting sensor exhibits good stability, high sensitivity, and user-friendly reusability for cholesterol determination. This study shows that CCE is a promising matrix for MIP sensors.