Electrochemical sensor for acetaminophen based on an imprinted TiO2 thin film prepared by liquid phase deposition

An electrochemical sensor based on a molecularly imprinted TiO2 thin film is proposed for the determination of acetaminophen. The imprinted TiO2 films were obtained by liquid phase deposition (LPD) in the presence of acetaminophen, the functional monomer and the aqueous solution of (NH4)(2)TiF6 and H3BO3. The results show that acetaminophen is embedded into the imprinted film in the presence of p-tert-butylcalix[6]arene as a functional monomer, and can be removed completely by washing with ethanol. The surface morphology, spectral properties and electrochemical characterizations of the imprinted sensor were investigated in detail. The combination of molecularly imprinted and LPD technique was shown to be a general strategy for constructing a molecular recognition system.