Electrochemical Determination of Tetracycline Using Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Modified Carbon Nanotube-Gold Nanoparticles Electrode

This paper reports the use of a tetracycline (TC) sensor constructed from a combination of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) and gold nanoparticles modified multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs-GNPs). The results demonstrated that the amount of recognition sites in the polymer was significantly increased and the electron transfer ability of the sensor was improved. The relationship between the peak current and the TC concentration was linear in the range from 0.1 to 40 mg L-1, and the detection limit was 0.04 mg L-1 (SIN=3). The peak current to TC was 4.3, 6.2 and 6.8 times larger than that of oxytetracycline, chloramphenicol and nafcillin, respectively. Thus, the combination of MIP and MWNTs-GNPs provides a sensitive and selective electrochemical detection method for tetracycline.