A molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensors based on bamboo-like carbon nanotubes loaded with nickel nanoclusters for highly selective detection of cortisol

Abstract

Nitrogen doped bamboo-liked carbon nanotubes loaded with nickel nanoclusters were prepared by single-pot pyrolysis method. On this basis, a molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor (MIECS) with the specific recognition sites of cortisol was studied. Using o-phenylenediamine as functional monomer and cortisone as template, molecularly imprinted polymer films were prepared by simple and controllable electropolymerization. After a series of optimized conditions, the MIECS shows a wide linear range of 10−14 M to 10−9 M for cortisol with a low detection limit at 2.37 × 10−15 M. Moreover, this sensing platform has been applied to the detection of cortisol in saliva samples and satisfactory results has been obtained.