Development of a novel sensing platform based on molecularly imprinted polymer and closed bipolar electrochemiluminescence for sensitive detection of dopamine

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is widely used in bioanalysis due to its outstanding performance. In this work, we proposed a new ECL sensing strategy through the combination of molecular imprinting technology (MIT) and bipolar electrode (BPE). We use 3-aminophenyl boronic acid (APBA) as the monomer and dopamine (DA) as the template molecule to fabricate the MIP sensor through one-step electropolymerization. DA was encapsulated within the polymer film during the polymerization and subsequently removed to form a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for DA recognition. The MIP modified electrode was applied as the sensing electrode, which could generate the oxidation current in the presence of DA, enabling the ECL signal change of reporting cell containing Ru(bpy)(3)(2+)/TPrA in the BPECL system. Therefore, the rapid analysis of DA was achieved via this c-MIP-BPECL platform. The closed BPE simplifies sample pretreatment due to the relative independence of sensing and detecting, and the enrichment and precise identification of the analytes by MIP greatly improve the sensitivity, selectivity, and stability of the bipolar system. The established platform exhibits great sensing performance for DA with a linear range of 2 x 10(-7) -2.6 x 10(-4) M and 2.6-6.2 x 10(-4) M, respectively, with the low limit of detection (LOD) of 1 x 10(-7) M.

Automated summary

In this study, a new ECL sensing strategy was proposed by combining molecular imprinting technology (MIT) and bipolar electrode (BPE) for rapid dopamine (DA) analysis. The MIP modified electrode showed improved sensitivity, selectivity, and stability for DA detection, demonstrating great sensing performance in the established platform.