Towards Development of Molecularly Imprinted Electrochemical Sensors for Food and Drug Safety: Progress and Trends

Abstract

Due to their advantages of good flexibility, low cost, simple operations, and small equipment size, electrochemical sensors have been commonly employed in food safety. However, when they are applied to detect various food or drug samples, their stability and specificity can be greatly influenced by the complex matrix. By combining electrochemical sensors with molecular imprinting techniques (MIT), they will be endowed with new functions of specific recognition and separation, which make them powerful tools in analytical fields. MIT-based electrochemical sensors (MIECs) require preparing or modifying molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) on the electrode surface. In this review, we explored different MIECs regarding the design, working principle and functions. Additionally, the applications of MIECs in food and drug safety were discussed, as well as the challenges and prospects for developing new electrochemical methods. The strengths and weaknesses of MIECs including low stability and electrode fouling are discussed to indicate the research direction for future electrochemical sensors.

Recent Trends in the Development of Carbon-Based Electrodes Modified with Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for Antibiotic Electroanalysis

“…and emerging pollutants including hormones, drugs and drug metabolites [86]. A very recent paper detailed the application of electrochemical sensors obtained by molecularly imprinting technology in food and drug safety control by detecting low levels of antibiotics, pesticides, heavy metals, toxins and pathogens in contaminated food [87]. Some aspects regarding the preparation of electrochemical sensors modified with conducting polymers imprinted by proteins and other large biomolecules and their applications in pharmaceutical and biomedical fields were summarized by Ramanavicius et al, 2022 [88], special attention being paid to the biocompatibility of conducting polymers with the basic biological molecules, absolutely necessary in the development of wearable sensors.…”

“…Long et al [4] used a homemade BCE because they could control the surface of the electrode (size of 5 × 4 mm 2 ). To obtain a smooth mirror-like surface, the electrode surface was polished with alumina slurry, this step was followed by sonication in distilled water, as is usually performed in the GCE case, such as was previously mentioned [87]. A similar cleaning procedure, but employing metallographic sandpaper instead of alumina slurry, was applied also to the BPPGE prior to covering its surface with a MIP layer.…”

Guidelines for Raman spectroscopy and imaging techniques in food safety analysis

“…Globally, food safety issues arise frequently, primarily due to the diverse range of contaminants such as pesticides, pathogens, heavy metals, and mycotoxins, and the misuse of food additives Yin et al, 2018;S. Zhou et al, 2022).…”

A Fusion of Molecular Imprinting Technology and Siloxane Chemistry: A Way to Advanced Hybrid Nanomaterials

“…This field has expanded quickly in recent years, providing versatile tools for the separation or detection of numerous chemical compounds or even macromolecules and cell domains, opening a wide range of applications in different branches of analytical chemistry, pharmaceutical analysis, forensic science, food control, environmental safety, and quite recently in drug delivery or theranostics. The application capabilities of molecularly imprinted materials in various fields were discussed comprehensively in numerous reviews that were published in the last few years [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 ].…”