Dual Functional Molecular Imprinted Polymer-Modified Organometal Lead Halide Perovskite: Synthesis and Application for Photoelectrochemical Sensing of Salicylic Acid

This work reports the synthesis of dual functional molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-modified organometal lead halide perovskite (CH3NH3PbI3) and its application for photoelectrochemical (PEC) bioanalysis of salicylic acid (SA). Specifically, the CH3NH3PbI3 was encapsulated into the MIPs via a simple thermal polymerization process on the indium tin oxide (ITO) glass, and the as-obtained MIPs/CH3NH3PbI3/ITO electrode was characterized by various techniques, which revealed that the MIPs could not only stabilize CH3NH3PbI3 but also improve the electron-hole separation efficiency of CH3NH3PbI3 under light illumination. In the detection of model analyte SA, the PEC sensor, with numerous amounts of recognition sites to SA, exhibited desirable performance in terms of good sensitivity, selectivity, stability, and feasibility for real sample analysis. This work not only featured the use of MIPs/CH3NH3PbI3 for PEC detection of SA but also provided a new horizon for the design and implementation of functional polymers/perovskite materials in the field of PEC sensors and biosensors.