Recent Advances and Perspectives of Molecularly Imprinted Polymer-Based Fluorescent Sensors in Food and Environment Analysis.

Jun Lv,Lingyun Li,Xiaodong Huang,Xiaomin Xu,Donghui Xu,Yanguo Zhang,Guangyang Liu

doi:10.3390/nano9071030

Abstract

Molecular imprinting technology (MIT), also known as molecular template technology, is a new technology involving material chemistry, polymer chemistry, biochemistry, and other multi-disciplinary approaches. This technology is used to realize the unique recognition ability of three-dimensional crosslinked polymers, called the molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). MIPs demonstrate a wide range of applicability, good plasticity, stability, and high selectivity, and their internal recognition sites can be selectively combined with template molecules to achieve selective recognition. A molecularly imprinted fluorescence sensor (MIFs) incorporates fluorescent materials (fluorescein or fluorescent nanoparticles) into a molecularly imprinted polymer synthesis system and transforms the binding sites between target molecules and molecularly imprinted materials into readable fluorescence signals. This sensor demonstrates the advantages of high sensitivity and selectivity of fluorescence detection. Molecularly imprinted materials demonstrate considerable research significance and broad application prospects. They are a research hotspot in the field of food and environment safety sensing analysis. In this study, the progress in the construction and application of MIFs was reviewed with emphasis on the preparation principle, detection methods, and molecular recognition mechanism. The applications of MIFs in food and environment safety detection in recent years were summarized, and the research trends and development prospects of MIFs were discussed.

Highlights

Molecular imprinting technology (MIT) is a preparation technology based on the interaction and principle of antibody and antigen as well as enzyme and substrate, which is developed to synthesize three-dimensional crosslinked polymers with specific molecular recognition ability [1,2,3]
Molecularly imprinted fluorescence sensors (MIFs) combine the high selectivity of MIT with the high sensitive response of fluorescent materials and convert the molecular recognition into readable fluorescence signal
This aspect compensates for the drawback of the Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) that can only recognize and not transmit the signal and integrates the recognition unit and signal output unit efficiently

Summary

Introduction

Molecular imprinting technology (MIT) is a preparation technology based on the interaction and principle of antibody and antigen as well as enzyme and substrate, which is developed to synthesize three-dimensional crosslinked polymers with specific molecular recognition ability [1,2,3]. Imprinted polymers (MIPs) demonstrate many advantages, such as good selective adsorption, strong affinity, simple preparation, strong stress resistance, and low cost. They demonstrate significant application prospects in the fields of solid phase extraction, chemical biomimetic sensing technology, chromatographic separation, and mimic enzymes [4,5,6]. MIFs demonstrate the advantages of specific recognition and specific adsorption of molecular imprinting and possesses the high sensitivity and high selectivity of fluorescent materials This characteristic is important in integrating the recognition unit and signal output unit efficiently in the rapid detection of food quality and safety, and demonstrates broad application prospects [37,38]. The research focus and development trend of the MIFs is discussed

Preparation of MIPs

Organic Fluorescent Dye Type

Heavy Metals

Environmental Organic Pollutants

Conclusions and Prospects