Novel QCM and SPR sensors based on molecular imprinting for highly sensitive and selective detection of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid in apple samples

This study aims to develop molecularly imprinted based quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors for highly sensitive and selective detection of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and to determine their accuracy and precision by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) as a reference technique. Here, we synthesized non-imprinted (NIP) and 2,4-D-imprinted (MIP) [ethylene glycol dimetacrylate-N-metacryloyl-(L)-tryptophan methyl ester-p(EGDMA-MATrp)] polymeric nanofilms by using molecular imprinting technique. MIP and NIP nanofilms were characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR), atomic force microscope (AFM), contact angle and ellipsometer measurements. The molecular imprinting procedures were successfully carried out and it was found that the prepared polymeric surfaces were highly desirable for sensitive recognition by QCM and SPR sensors. Competitive experiments for the sensors revealed that MW nanofilms were found to show more sensitivity and selectivity than NIP ones. The sensor responses have a good linear relationship with 2,4-D concentrations in the range of 0.23-8.0 nM with a limit of detection at 20.17 ng/L for QCM and 24.57 ng/L for SPR sensors. In conclusion, both QCM and SPR sensor systems showed good accuracy and precision, with recovery percentages between 90 and 92% and 87-93%, respectively. Furthermore, they have a fast response time, reusability, high selectivity and sensitivity and low limit of detection.