Molecularly Imprinted Plasmonic Sensors for the Determination of Environmental Water Contaminants: A Review

Abstract

The scarcity of clean water leads to the exploration of the possibility of using treated wastewater. However, monitoring campaigns have proven the presence of emerging contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides and personal care products, not only in trace amounts. Various analytical methodologies have been developed over the last years for the quantification of these compounds in environmental waters. Facing the need to achieve a higher sensitivity, fast response and practical use via miniaturization, the potential of plasmonic sensors has been explored. Through the introduction of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) as recognition elements, MIP-based plasmonic sensors seem to be a good alternative for monitoring a wide range of analytes in water samples. This work attempts to provide a general overview of this form of sensor, which has been reported as being able to sense different contaminants in waters using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and surface-enhanced Raman-scattering (SERS) techniques. Particular emphasis is given to the fabrication/recognition procedure, including the preparation of MIPs and the use of metals and nanomaterials to increase the performance characteristics of the sensors.