Molecularly imprinted upconversion nanoparticles for highly selective and sensitive sensing of Cytochrome c

A novel method combined the high selectivity of molecular imprinting technology with the strong fluorescence property of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) for sensing of Cytochrome c (Cyt c) was proposed. The molecularly imprinted material-coated upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs@MIP) were obtained by in situ coating Cyt c imprinted materials to the surface of the carboxyl modified UCNPs through sol-gel technique. The structure and component of the prepared UCNPs@MIP was investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), power X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS). The TEM showed the diameter of UCNPs was 40 nm, and thickness of MIP was 5-10 nm. The fluorescence intensity of UCNPs@MIP reduced gradually with the increase of Cyt c concentration. Under optimum conditions, the imprinting factor is 3.19, and the UCNPs@MIP showed selective recognition for Cyt c among other proteins such as bovine serum albumin (BSA) and Lysozyme (Lyz). Therefore, this new method for sensing protein is very promising for future applications. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.