Acetylsalicylic acid electrochemical sensor based on PATP-AuNPs modified molecularly imprinted polymer film

A novel electrochemical sensor based on molecularly imprinted polymer film has been developed for aspirin detection. The sensitive film was prepared by co-polymerization of p-aminothiophenol (p-ATP) and HAuCl₄ on the Au electrode surface. First, p-ATP was self-assembled on the Au electrode surface by the formation of Au-S bonds. Then, the acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) template was assembled onto the monolayer of p-ATP through the hydrogen-bonding interaction between amino group (p-ATP) and oxygen (ASA). Finally, a conductive hybrid membrane was fabricated at the surface of Au electrode by the co-polymerization in the mixing solution containing additional p-ATP, HAuCl ₄ and ASA template. Meanwhile, the ASA was spontaneously imprinted into the poly-aminothiophenol gold nanoparticles (PATP-AuNPs) complex film. The amount of imprinted sites at the PATP-AuNPs film significantly increases due to the additional replenishment of ASA templates. With the significant increasing of imprinted sites and doped gold nanoparticles, the sensitivity of the molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) electrode gradually increased. The molecularly imprinted sensor was characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The linear relationships between current and logarithmic concentration were obtained in the range from 1 nmol L^-1 to 0.1 μmol L^-1 and 0.7 μmol L^-1 to 0.1 mmol L^-1. The detection limit of 0.3 nmol L^-1 was achieved. This molecularly imprinted sensor for the determination of ASA has high sensitivity, good selectivity and reproducibility, with the testing in some biological fluids also has good selectivity and recovery.