Biomimetic piezoelectric quartz sensor for folic acid based on a molecular imprinting technology

Abstract

A novel molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-modified quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor with high selectivity has been developed for the determination of folic acid via activator generated-atom transfer radical polymerization (AGET-ATRP) technique. It requires an alkyl halide (R-X) as an initiator, a transition metal complex as a catalyst, and an amine as reducing agent. Herein, chlorosilane was used as initiator which was grafted onto the self assembled monolayer modified-quartz crystal surface followed by the addition of pre-polymer mixture which latter underwent thermal cross-linking resulting in MIP-modified QCM sensor. The linear working range (quantification) was found to be 0.6-26.0 μg L-1, with the detection limit as low as 0.08 μg L-1 (S/N=3). ©2011 VBRI press.