Molecularly Imprinted Poly(thionine)-Based Electrochemical Sensing Platform for Fast and Selective Ultratrace Determination of Patulin

Abstract

An innovative approach based on a surface functional monomer-directing strategy for the construction of a sensitive and selective molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor for patulin recognition is described. A patulin imprinted platinum nanoparticle (PtNP)-coated poly­(thionine) film was grown on a preformed thionine tailed surface of PtNP-nitrogen-doped graphene (NGE) by electropolymerization, which provided high capacity and fast kinetics to uptake patulin molecules. Thionine acted not only as a functional monomer for molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP), but also as a signal indicator. Enhanced sensitivity was obtained by combining the excellent electric conductivity of PtNPs, NGE, and thionine with multisignal amplification. The designed sensor displayed excellent performance for patulin detection over the range of 0.002–2 ng mL–1 (R2 = 0.995) with a detection limit of 0.001 ng mL–1 for patulin. In addition, the resulting sensor showed good stability and high repeatability and selectivity. Furthermore, the feasibility of its applications has also been demonstrated in the analysis of real samples, providing novel tactics for the rational design of MIP-based electrochemical sensors to detect a growing number of deleterious substances.

Molecularly Imprinted Polymers Combined with Electrochemical Sensors for Food Contaminants Analysis

“…The development of an accurate analytical method for the detection of mycotoxins is highly needed to satisfy food safety requirements [ 123 , 124 ]. Recently, Huang et al [ 115 ] applied thionine as both functional monomer and signal indicator to form an electrochemical sensor for the detection of patulin that is produced by Aspergillus , Penicillium , and Byssochlamys species. By electropolymerizing, molecularly imprinted polythionine was synthesized on the Pt nanoparticles (PtNPs)-nitrogen-doped graphene-modified GCE.…”

RuCu Cage/Alloy Nanoparticles with Controllable Electroactivity for Specific Electroanalysis Applications

“…At present, there have been many reports on the use of electrochemical sensors to detect hazardous substances in food, for example, pesticide residue, xanthine, biotoxins, pathogenic bacteria, and so forth. 5−7 Currently, the commonly used electroactive probes for electrochemical detection mainly include some traditional electroactive organic compounds, such as methylene blue, 8 thionine, 9 ferrocene, 10 and quantum dots. 11 However, it is difficult to obtain a strong electrochemical signal by using traditional electroactive tags, and these organic compounds require to be modified on extra carriers, resulting in unstable results and suffering from poor repeatability.…”

“…Electrochemical sensors are widely used in environmental monitoring, food analysis, clinical diagnosis, and pathogenic microorganism research, attributing to their obvious advantages of high sensitivity, easy miniaturization, strong quantitative feasibility, and simple operation. − Frequent food quality problems ring the alarm. At present, there have been many reports on the use of electrochemical sensors to detect hazardous substances in food, for example, pesticide residue, xanthine, biotoxins, pathogenic bacteria, and so forth. − Currently, the commonly used electroactive probes for electrochemical detection mainly include some traditional electroactive organic compounds, such as methylene blue, thionine, ferrocene, and quantum dots . However, it is difficult to obtain a strong electrochemical signal by using traditional electroactive tags, and these organic compounds require to be modified on extra carriers, resulting in unstable results and suffering from poor repeatability.…”

Low-Cost and Convenient Microchannel Resistance Biosensing Platform by Directly Translating Biorecognition into a Current Signal

“…For instance, electrochemical detection requires a specialized workstation, and the electrodes usually need tedious modification procedures, which lead to high costs and complexity. 11,12 To overcome these limitations, alternative signal readout strategies are being pursued. Till date, pressure, distance, temperature, and even smell have been utilized as a sensing signal for bioassays, but they do not offer satisfactory stability and operability.…”

“…A top priority in disease diagnosis, food safety, and environmental monitoring has been the development of analysis technologies with low cost, minimal infrastructures, and convenient operations. − Major advances toward streamlining analytical operations and ancillary devices based on the biosensing technology have thus been reported. , A biosensing platform, in general, consists of two typical elements: a biorecognition element using biomolecules (antigens, antibodies, or oligonucleotides) for specific identification of analytes and a transducer for converting the identifying information into a detectable signal. , Till date, optical, electrochemical, and magnetic signal readout strategies have been widely used in laboratory scenarios, but they usually require complicated operations and expensive instruments for signal detection. − These constraints prevent their applications in settings that lack laboratory facilities and trained personnel. For instance, electrochemical detection requires a specialized workstation, and the electrodes usually need tedious modification procedures, which lead to high costs and complexity. , To overcome these limitations, alternative signal readout strategies are being pursued. Till date, pressure, distance, temperature, and even smell have been utilized as a sensing signal for bioassays, but they do not offer satisfactory stability and operability. − …”