Polymer Based Quartz Crystal Microbalance Research Articles

Hollow molecularly imprinted polymer based quartz crystal microbalance sensor for rapid detection of methimazole in food samples

In this study, a novel detection method of methimazole was proposed based on the hollow molecularly imprinted quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor, in which the hollow imprinted polymers (H-MIPs) were firstly prepared through the surface imprinted techniques, using hollow silica spheres as matrix supporting material and methimazole as template molecule. The characterizations of H-MIPs were carefully studied. Compared with traditional MIPs, H-MIPs exhibited faster mass transfer rate and higher adsorption capacity. After coating onto the surface of Au chip, the H-MIPs QCM sensor was fabricated. Based on the frequency shift, good linear behavior in the range of 5–70 μg L–1, limit of detection of 3 μg L–1, and good recoveries of 88.32%–107.96% in the spiked pork, beef and milk were obtained. The analysis process could complete within 8 min. The developed sensor provided an effective, fast and accurate method for the methimazole detection in food samples.

Molecularly imprinted polymer based quartz crystal microbalance sensor for the clinical detection of insulin

In this study, quartz crystal microbalance sensors based on molecular imprinting technology were fabricated for real-time detection of insulin in aqueous solution and artificial plasma. This study describes the preparation of insulin imprinted poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-N-methacryloyl-(l)-histidine methyl ester based quartz crystal microbalance sensor for insulin determination. Poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-N-methacryloyl-(l)-histidine methyl ester based film on chip surface was synthesized by ultra violet (UV) polymerization for the detection of insulin at low concentrations. At the first step, N-methacryloyl-(l)-histidine methyl ester complex was formed with insulin and then, the insulin imprinted film has been prepared. The characterization of the polymeric film has been conducted with ellipsometry, contact angle, Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance and atomic force microscopy measurements. Langmuir, Freundlich and Langmuir-Freundlich adsorption isotherm models were applied for this system. The best fitted model to explain the interactions between molecular imprinted chip and insulin molecules was the Langmuir adsorption isotherm (R2: 0.999). The repeatability of insulin imprinted chip was investigated by using of equilibration-binding-regeneration cycles for four times. The detection limit was found as 0.00158 ng/mL. According to the results, the QCM sensor has showed low-detection limit, high selectivity and sensitivity for insulin assay.

Molecularly imprinted polymer based quartz crystal microbalance sensor system for sensitive and label-free detection of synthetic cannabinoids in urine

Herein, we prepared a novel quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor for synthetic cannabinoids (JWH-073, JWH-073 butanoic acid, JWH-018 and JWH-018 pentanoic acid,) detection. Firstly, the synthetic cannabinoid (SCs) imprinted (MIP) and non-imprinted (NIP) nanoparticles were synthesized by mini-emulsion polymerization system. The SCs-imprinted nanoparticles were first characterized by SEM, TEM, zeta-size and FTIR-ATR analysis and then were dropped onto the gold QCM surface. The SCs-imprinted QCM sensor was characterized by an ellipsometer, contact angle, and AFM. The limit of detection was found as 0.3, 0.45, 0.4, 0.2 pg/mL JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-018 pentanoic acid and JWH-073 butanoic acid, respectively. The selectivity of the SCs-imprinted QCM sensor was shown by using JWH-018, JWH-018 pentanoic acid, JWH-073 and JWH-073 butanoic acid. According to the results, the SCs-imprinted QCM sensors show highly selective and sensitive in a broad range of synthetic cannabinoid concentrations (0.0005–1.0 ng/mL) in both aqueous and synthetic urine solutions.

Epitope molecularly imprinted polymer coated quartz crystal microbalance sensor for the determination of human serum albumin

Quantitative determination of biomacromolecules has great significance. Quartz crystal microbalance sensors are favored by their sensibility while their selectivity was limited. Molecularly imprinted polymer has great selectivity performance. By combining the advantages of quartz crystal microbalance and molecularly imprinted polymer, this work established an epitope molecularly imprinted polymer based quartz crystal microbalance sensor. Using the epitope of human serum albumin as the template, the epitope molecularly imprinted polymer (EMIP) was successfully synthesized. Then a simple coating method was applied to fabricate the epitope molecularly imprinted polymer based quartz crystal microbalance sensor (EMIP-QCM). The EMIP-QCM sensor had good sensibility and selectivity to the target human serum albumin. The linear range was from 0.050μgmL−1 to 0.500μgmL−1 and the detection limit was calculated to be 0.026μgmL−1. In addition, it could be used in real sample analysis and had good accuracy and reproducibility. This method proposed a general and simple way of establishing quartz crystal microbalance sensors for sensitive determination of biomacromolecules.

A sensitive molecularly imprinted polymer based quartz crystal microbalance nanosensor for selective determination of lovastatin in red yeast rice

Lovastatin (LOV) is a statin, used to lower cholesterol which has been found as a hypolipidemic agent in commercial red yeast rice. In present study, a sensitive molecular imprinted quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor was prepared by fabricating a self-assembling monolayer formation of allylmercaptane on QCM chip surface for selective determination of lovastatin (LOV) in red yeast rice. To prepare molecular imprinted quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) nanosensor, LOV imprinted poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate–methacryloylamidoaspartic acid) [p(HEMA–MAAsp)] nanofilm was attached on the modified gold surface of QCM chip. The non-modified and improved surfaces were characterized by using contact angle, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The imprinted QCM sensor was validated according to the ICH guideline (International Conference on Harmonisation). The linearity range was obtained as 0.10–1.25nM. The detection limit of the prepared material was calculated as 0.030nM. The developed QCM nanosensor was successfully used to examine red yeast rice. Furthermore, the stability and repeatability of the prepared QCM nanosensor were studied. The spectacular long-term stability and repeatability of the prepared LOV-imprinted QCM nanosensor make them intriguing for use in QCM sensors.