Development of an eco-friendly fluorescence nanosensor based on molecularly imprinted polymer on silica-carbon quantum dot for the rapid indoxacarb detection

Neurological effects of carbon quantum dots on zebrafish: A review

Fluorescent carbon dots have emerged as promising nanomaterials for various applications, including bioimaging, food safety detection and drug delivery. However, their potential impact on neurological systems, especially in-vivo models, remains a critical area of investigation. This review focuses on the neurological effects of carbon dots and carbon quantum dots on zebrafish, an established vertebrate model with a conserved central nervous system. Recent studies have demonstrated the efficient uptake and distribution of carbon dots in zebrafish tissues, with a particular affinity for neural tissues. The intricate neural architecture of zebrafish allows for the precise examination of behavioral changes and neurodevelopmental alterations induced by fluorescent carbon dots. Neurotoxicity assessments reveal both short-term and long-term effects, ranging from immediate behavioral alterations to subtle changes in neuronal morphology. The review discusses potential mechanisms underlying these effects highlights the need for standardized methodologies in assessing neurological outcomes and emphasizes the importance of ethical considerations in nanomaterial research. As the field of nanotechnology continues to advance, a comprehensive understanding of the impact of fluorescent carbon dots on neurological function in zebrafish is crucial for informing safe and sustainable applications in medicine and beyond.

Toxicokinetics and bioavailability of indoxacarb enantiomers and their new metabolites in rats

Indoxacarb is a chiral insecticide that consists of two enantiomers, S-(+)-indoxacarb and R-(-)-indoxacarb, of which only S-(+)-indoxacarb has insecticidal activity. Previous enantioselective toxicology studies of indoxacarb focused mostly on simple environmental model organisms. The lack of a toxicology evaluation of indoxacarb conducted in a mammalian system could mean that the extent of the potential health risk posed by the insecticide to humans is not adequately known. In this study, we reported on a new pair of enantiomers, S-IN-RM294 and R-IN-RM294, derived from the metabolic breakdown of S-(+)-indoxacarb and R-(-)-indoxacarb, respectively, in rats. The toxicokinetics of S-(+)-indoxacarb, R-(-)-indoxacarb, S-IN-RM294, and R-IN-RM294 in rats were evaluated to provide a more comprehensive risk assessment of these molecules. The bioavailability and excretion rates of both S-(+)-indoxacarb and R-(-)-indoxacarb were relatively low, which may be due to their faster metabolism and accumulation in the tissues. In addition, there were significant differences in the metabolism and distribution between the two indoxacarb enantiomers and their metabolites in vivo. S-(+)-Indoxacarb was found to be more easily metabolized in the blood compared with R-(-)-indoxacarb, as shown by the differences in pharmacokinetic parameters between oral and intravenous administration. Analysis of their tissue distribution showed that S-(+)-indoxacarb was less likely to accumulate in most tissues. The results obtained for the two metabolites were consistent with those of the two parent compounds. S-IN-RM294 was more readily cleared from the blood and less likely to accumulate in the tissues compared with R-IN-RM294. Therefore, whether from the perspective of insecticidal activity or from the perspective of mammalian and environmental friendliness, the application of optically pure S-(+)-indoxacarb in agriculture may be a more efficient and safer strategy.

ZnS:Mn Quantum Dots Coated with a Silica Molecularly Imprinted Polymer for Trace Teflubenzuron Detection in Vegetable Samples

A novel nanocomposite fluorescent probe consisting of quantum dots and a silica molecularly imprinted polymer (MIPs-capped ZnS:Mn QDs) was synthesized and applied for the rapid detection of teflubenzuron (TBZ) based on the fluorescence quenching of a composite probe via TBZ. The fluorescence quenching efficiency of MIP@SiO2@ZnS:Mn QDs displayed a linear relationship over the concentration range of 0-26.24 μmol/L with a correlation coefficient of 0.9857 and the limit of detection was 2.4 μg/L. The selectivity test showed that the nanocomposite had good selectively rebind TBZ with higher imprinting factor of 3.06 compared with four structurally similar compounds. In addition, the probe was successfully applied to the detection of TBZ in vegetable samples with a recovery of 90.3~97.1% and with a relative standard deviation below 3.2%. This developed method has the advantages of simple preparation, fast response and low toxicity for trace TBZ detection.

Synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymers based on nitrogen-doped carbon dots for specific detection of chlortetracycline by reversed phase microemulsion method

Among the tetracycline antibiotics, chlortetracycline (CTC) is the most frequently used antibiotic except for tetracycline (TC) for enhancing the ability of the organism to fight bacterial infections. The poor metabolism and degradability of CTC can cause serious health effects. Most studies have focused on the detection and analysis of TC, and research on CTC is relatively scarce. This is because the structures of CTC and TC and oxytetracycline (OTC) are extremely similar, and even indistinguishable. In this study, CTC was used as a template molecule and a molecularly imprinted layer was coated on the surface of highly fluorescent N-CDs using a reversed-phase microemulsion method to form N-CDs@MIPs. It was possible to specifically identify CTC without the influence of TC and OTC, which are extremely similar in structure. By comparing with the non-imprinted polymer (N-CDs@NIPs), it exhibited high sensitivity and selectivity with an imprinting factor of 2.02. And it was used in the determination of CTC in milk with recoveries and relative standard deviations of 96.7%-109.8% and 0.64%-3.27%, respectively, with high accuracy and precision. The specificity of the measurement is excellent compared with other assays, and it is a valid and reliable assay.

Ionic liquid-enhanced lemon biomass carbon dots with sustainable use in bionic antibody microspheres for urea capture and ethyl carbamate inhibition

Herein, we reported the room-temperature fabrication of ionic liquid-modified carbon dots encapsulated in bionic antibodies (IL-modified CDs@BAs) by one-pot green synthesis. In order to enhance the fluorescence intensity of CDs, imidazole ILs and lemon rich in heteroatoms were selected as CDs modifiers and sources. The resulting IL-modified CDs@BAs showed good selectivity and capture toward urea and obviously induced fluorescence quenching by template-binding. The inhibition rate ofIL-modified CDs@BAs on the urea pathway of ethyl carbamate was about 29.07% in the simulated Huangjiu system, indicating a good inhibitory effect. The IL-modified CDs@BAs system was also reproducible after five consecutive uses, thus reducing the economic cost. This research would expand the application fields of BAs-based optical sensing system from the perspectives of energy conservation, environmental protection and resource recovery, focusing on their application in the field of food safety control.

Indocyanine green derived carbon dots with significantly enhanced properties for efficient photothermal therapy

A simple yet effective strategy to enhance the properties of traditional dye indocyanine green (ICG) in all aspects was proposed and demonstrated. Specifically, indocyanine green-derived carbon dots (ICGCDs) were synthesized from ICG via a simple hydrothermal treatment. The ICGCDs exhibited significantly enhanced thermal stability and anti-photobleaching compared to ICG. Furthermore, their photothermal properties were also notably strengthened, in which a wider functional pH range, 50% improvement in photothermal conversion efficiency and superior photothermal cyclability were achieved. Thanks to these superior properties, ICGCDs were demonstrated as efficient NIR bioimaging and photothermal agents in both in vitro and in vivo experiments. Most excitingly, the strategy demonstrated in this study is likely to have broad applications in other systems.

Carbon dot-based molecularly imprinted fluorescent nanopomegranate for selective detection of quinoline in coking wastewater

Quinoline, as a refractory and toxic organic pollutant in coking wastewater, causes great harm to the environment and human health even in trace amount. To realize the selective and sensitive detection of quinoline in coking wastewater, a novel molecularly imprinted fluorescent nanopomegranate with carbon dots (CDs) as seeds and fluorescence source (CD-MIP) was prepared, using quinoline as the template, and N-(β-aminoethyl)-γ-aminopropyl trimethoxysilane (KH792) as the monomer. The preparation and detection conditions of CD-MIP were systematically optimized. The structure and detection performance of CD-MIP were investigated in detail. The resulting CD-MIP exhibits excellent photoluminescence performance, high detection sensitivity, good selectivity and reproducibility towards quinoline. Under the optimized conditions, the fluorescence intensity of CD-MIP shows a satisfying linearity with quinoline concentration in the range of 20-200 mg/L with a detection limit of 6.7 mg/L. Owing to the existence of imprinted cavities that highly match with quinoline, a high imprinting factor (3.46) for CD-MIP was obtained. In addition, CD-MIP represents a greater affinity towards quinoline than towards other analogues, as well as an outstanding anti-interference capability. For trace analysis in real coking wastewater, CD-MIP also gives satisfactory results. Therefore, CD-MIP shows promising application in the selective detection of trace quinoline in wastewater.

An advantageous application of molecularly imprinted polymers in food processing and quality control

In the global market era, food product control is very challenging. It is impossible to track and control all production and delivery chains not only for regular customers but also for the State Sanitary Inspections. Certified laboratories currently use accurate food safety and quality inspection methods. However, these methods are very laborious and costly. The present review highlights the need to develop fast, robust, and cost-effective analytical assays to determine food contamination. Application of the molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) as selective recognition units for chemosensors' fabrication was herein explored. MIPs enable fast and inexpensive electrochemical and optical transduction, significantly improving detectability, sensitivity, and selectivity. MIPs compromise durability of synthetic materials with a high affinity to target analytes and selectivity of molecular recognition. Imprinted molecular cavities, present in MIPs structure, are complementary to the target analyte molecules in terms of size, shape, and location of recognizing sites. They perfectly mimic natural molecular recognition. The present review article critically covers MIPs' applications in selective assays for a wide range of food products. Moreover, numerous potential applications of MIPs in the food industry, including sample pretreatment before analysis, removal of contaminants, or extraction of high-value ingredients, are discussed.

Polymer based nanocomposites: A strategic tool for detection of toxic pollutants in environmental matrices

A large fraction of population is suffering from waterborne diseases due to the contaminated drinking water. Both anthropogenic and natural sources are responsible for water contamination. Revolution in industrial and agriculture sectors along with a huge increase in human population has brought more amount of wastes like heavy metals, pesticides and antibiotics. These toxins are very harmful for human health, therefore, it is necessary to sense their presence in environment. Conventional strategies face various problems in detection and quantification of these pollutants such as expensive equipment and requirement of high maintenance with limited portability. Recently, nanostructured devices have been developed to detect environmental pollutants. Polymeric nanocomposites have been found robust, cost effective, highly efficient and accurate for sensing various environmental pollutants and this is due to their porous framework, multi-functionalities, redox properties, great conductivity, catalytic features, facile operation at room temperature and large surface area. Synergistic effects between polymeric matrix and nanomaterials are responsible for improved sensing features and environmental adaptability. This review focuses on the recent advancement in polymeric nanocomposites for sensing heavy metals, pesticides and antibiotics. The advantages, disadvantages, operating conditions and future perspectives of polymeric nanocomposites for sensing toxic pollutants have also been discussed.

Molecularly imprinted bulk and solgel optosensing based on biomass carbon dots derived from watermelon peel for detection of ethyl carbamate in alcoholic beverages

Biomass carbon dots synthesized by biological waste conform to the trend of ecological environmental protection and the requirements of green chemistry, which show great application potential in practice. In the study, we used watermelon peels as the raw materials to synthesize a novel blue biomass carbon dots (CDs) by a hydrothermal process with high fluorescence quantum yield of 22.8%. Through bulk polymerization and solgel method, two kinds of core-shell nanospheres were developed as fluorescent probes to recognize and detect ethyl carbamate (EC) rapidly without complex samples pretreatment. The obtained CDs@MIPs integrated the high-performance optical characteristics of CDs with excellent selectivity and adsorption of MIPs, which showed ideal linear relationships in the EC concentration range 1-120 μg L^-1 and low LOD of 0.57 μg L^-1 and 0.94 μg L^-1, respectively. Both CDs@MIPs have a short equilibration time which was around 20 min, and the imprinting factors (IF) are 4.04 and 2.62. The recoveries of the six spiked samples were satisfying, and the RSD precisions were lower than 5.57%. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was seen as a parallel analysis to validate the correctness of the results, which indicated the practicability and reliability of the developed method. This proposal strategy of optical sensors provided an effective channel for trace EC recognition, with numerous advantages, involving eco-friendly, low cost, high sensitivity, separation effect, and good selectivity.

Use of molecular imprinted polymers as sensitive/selective luminescent sensing probes for pesticides/herbicides in water and food samples

As non-biological molecules, molecular imprinted polymers (MIPs) can be made as antibody mimics for the development of luminescence sensors for various targets. The combination of MIPs with nanomaterials is further recognized as a useful option to improve the sensitivity of luminescence sensors. In this work, the recent progresses made in the fabrication of fluorescence, phosphorescence, chemiluminescence, and electrochemiluminescence sensors based on such combination have been reviewed with emphasis on the detection of pesticides/herbicides. Accordingly, the materials that are most feasible for the detection of such targets are recommended based on the MIP technologies.

Heteroatom-free conjugated tetraphenylethylene polymers for selectively fluorescent detection of tetracycline

The antibiotic tetracycline (Tc) is a major contaminant in food and water, with adverse effects on both ecosystems and human health. The development of novel sensors for tetracycline detection is of great importance. In this work, we develop a novel heteroatom-free conjugated tetraphenylethylene polymer (TPE-CMP) fluorescence sensor for the detection of tetracycline. In the presence of Tc, the emission fluorescence of TPE-CMP was quenched by the photoinduced electron transfer mechanism to achieve high sensitivity. The polymers can detect tetracycline at a concentration of 0-100 μg/mL with a good linear correlation (0.99), and the limit of detection (LOD) is 1.23 μg/mL. Furthermore, TPE-CMP has excellent selectivity in detecting Tc in the presence of various anti-interference analytes, including ions and antibiotics. In addition, the practical feasibilities of TPE-CMP for Tc sensing were further investigated in milk, urine and wastewater samples with satisfactory recoveries (from 94.96% to 112.53% for milk, from 96.41% to 99.31% for urine and from 98.54% to 100.52% for wastewater). We have designed and synthesized TPE-CMP based on heteroatom-free for the specific fluorescence detection of tetracycline, expanding the range of fluorescence detection sensors and offering great promise for practical applications.

Recent advances in synthesis and modification of carbon dots for optical sensing of pesticides

Serious threat from pesticide residues to the ecosystem and human health has become a global concern. Developing reliable methods for monitoring pesticides is a world-wide research hotspot. Carbon dots (CDs) with excellent photostability, low toxicity, and good biocompatibility have been regarded as the potential substitutes in fabricating various optical sensors for pesticide detection. Based on the relevant high-quality publications, this paper first summarizes the current state-of-the-art of the synthetic and modification approaches of CDs. Then, a comprehensive overview is given on the recent advances of CDs-based optical sensors for pesticides over the past five years, with a particular focus on photoluminescent, electrochemiluminescent and colorimetric sensors regarding the sensing mechanisms and design principles by integrating with various recognition elements including antibodies, aptamers, enzymes, molecularly imprinted polymers, and some nanoparticles. Novel functions and extended applications of CDs as signal indicators, catalyst, co-reactants, and electrode surface modifiers, in constructing optical sensors are specially highlighted. Beyond an assessment of the performances of the real-world application of these proposed optical sensors, the existing inadequacies and current challenges, as well as future perspectives for pesticide monitoring are discussed in detail. It is hoped to provide powerful insights for the development of novel CDs-based sensing strategies with their wide application in different fields for pesticide supervision.

An optosensor based on a hybrid sensing probe of mesoporous carbon and quantum dots embedded in imprinted polymer for ultrasensitive detection of thiamphenicol in milk

A hybrid fluorescent sensing probe was developed and used to quantitatively analyse thiamphenicol. The probe was constructed by entrapping mesoporous carbon and CdTe*CdS*ZnS quantum dots in molecularly imprinted polymer. The probe was characterized, and the construction and detection conditions were optimized. In the optimized conditions, the recognition sites of the nanoprobe were ultrasensitive and highly selective toward thiamphenicol. The quantitative analysis of thiamphenicol was based on the fluorescence quenching of the hybrid nanoprobe by thiamphenicol. Fluorescence emission was quenched linearly from 0.10 to 100 μg L^-1 with a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.9979. The limit of detection was 0.04 μg L^-1. The accuracy of an optosensor based on the hybrid probe was evaluated by analyzing spiked milk samples. The results obtained were compared with the results of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. The quantitative analysis of the spiked samples with the optosensor agreed well with HPLC analysis. Recoveries were in the range of 93.5 to 100.1 % with good precision (RSD < 5%). The accuracy, speed and convenience of the developed optosensor make it a powerful tool for the detection of thiamphenicol in milk.

Nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots coated with molecularly imprinted polymers as a fluorescent sensor for selective determination of warfarin

The strong photoluminescence of NGQDs and the selectivity of MIPs were combined to construct a fluorescent sensor for rapid determination of warfarin.

Fluorescent polydopamine based molecularly imprinted sensor for ultrafast and selective detection of p-nitrophenol in drinking water

A highly effective fluorescent molecularly imprinted sensor (F-PDA-MIS) based on fluorescent polydopamine (F-PDA) was successfully synthesized for selective and ultrafast detection of p-nitrophenol (P-NP) in drinking water. F-PDA with abundant surface functional groups has been artfully modified to firstly serve as both fluorescent monomer and functional monomer in the synthesis of a uniform luminous F-PDA-MIS, which can greatly improve the detection efficiency. As expected, F-PDA-MIS had an obvious emission wavelength of 535 nm with the optimal excitation wavelength at 400 nm. Specially, F-PDA-MIS could detect P-NP in the range 100 to 1100 nM with much lower detection limit of 24.2 nM within 120 s compared with other conventional imprinted fluorescent sensors based on pure quantum dots (QDs) or dyes. This excellent test phenomenon is mainly ascribed to the rapid electron transfer between F-PDA and P-NP. Satisfactory recovery of 98.0-104% for mineral water and 98.6-106% for boiling water were obtained with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 2.7-3.4% and 2.6-3.5% respectively. The detection reliability of F-PDA-MIS was verified by the comparison with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-UV). Consequently, F-PDA as a fluorescence functional monomer has been shown to be a possible strategy to effectively improve the detection limit and shorten response time of the target determination in water..

Fabrication of fluorescence sensor based on molecularly imprinted polymer on amine-modified carbon quantum dots for fast and highly sensitive and selective detection of tannic acid in food samples

Developing a rapid and accurate method for tannic acid (TA) detection and measurement is necessary due to its extensive applications in the food industry. In this work, a fluorescence sensor with a low limit of detection was synthesized for TA for the first time. First, amine-modified carbon quantum dots (a-CQDs) with high-quantum yield were synthesized by the hydrothermal method. A layer of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was then placed on a-CQDs by the surface printing method to increase the sensor selectivity. The mechanism of TA detection by the prepared a-CQDs/MIPs was quenching the fluorescence intensity of a-CQDs in the presence of TA due to the transfer of electrons from the TA to the a-CQDs. The linear range of the sensor response was at the TA concentration of 1-200 nmol L^-1 and its detection limit was 0.6 nmol L^-1 under optimal conditions. Finally, the sensor was used to measure TA in grape juice, green tea, and black tea samples using the recovery method. Recovery values between 97.4 and 103.6% and RSDs less than 3.8% indicated the high potential of the prepared sensor for TA analysis in complex food samples.

Molecularly Imprinted Silica-Coated CdTe Quantum Dots for Fluorometric Determination of Trace Chloramphenicol

A dual recognition system with a fluorescence quenching of quantum dots (QDs) and specific recognition of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for the detection of chloramphenicol (CAP) was constructed. MIP@SiO₂@QDs was prepared by reverse microemulsion method with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS), tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and QDs being used as the functional monomer, cross-linker and signal sources, respectively. MIP can specifically recognize CAP, and the fluorescence of QDs can be quenched by CAP due to the photo-induced electron transfer reaction between CAP and QDs. Thus, a method for the trace detection of CAP based on MIP@SiO₂@QDs fluorescence quenching was established. The fluorescence quenching efficiency of MIP@SiO₂@QDs displayed a desirable linear response to the concentration of CAP in the range of 1.00~4.00 × 10² μmol × L⁻¹, and the limit of detection was 0.35 μmol × L⁻¹ (3σ, n = 9). Importantly, MIP@SiO₂@QDs presented good detection selectivity owing to specific recognition for CAP, and was successfully applied to quantify CAP in lake water with the recovery ranging 102.0~104.0%, suggesting this method has the promising potential for the on-site detection of CAP in environmental waters.

Perfluoro octanoic acid-modified magnetic hyperbranched polyamideamine as a sorbent for the extraction of fluorine-containing pesticides from water samples

Perfluoro octanoic acid was modified on the surface of magnetic hyperbranched polyamideamine by acid amine condensation. The morphology and chemical composition of perfluoro octanoic acid-modified magnetic hyperbranched polyamideamine was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, zeta potential, particle size analysis, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller measurement, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Perfluoro octanoic acid-modified magnetic hyperbranched polyamideamine was applied in magnetic solid phase extraction for the separation and enrichment of four fluorine-containing pesticides (indoxacarb, metaflumizone, cyflumetofen, and cyhalothrin). The magnetic solid phase extraction method based on perfluoro octanoic acid-modified magnetic hyperbranched polyamideamine has low method detection limits (0.30-0.49 μg/L), a satisfactory coefficient of determination (0.9995-0.9999), wide linear ranges (2.5-250 μg/L), and good repeatability (intraday: 2.6-4.7%; interday: 1.1-7.9%). The enrichment factors and extraction efficiences varied from 55 to 76 and 69 to 96%, respectively. The sorbent-to-sorbent reproducibility was in the range of 3.2-7.6%, indicating that the synthesis of the sorbent was reliable. For the detection of actual water samples, the relative recoveries were in the range from 80.1 to 114.4% with relative standard deviations less than 9.6%. The calculation results of quantum chemistry calculations showed that after the modification of perfluoro octanoic acid, the interaction between the sorbent and four fluorine-containing pesticides was stronger.

Gadolinium-doped carbon dots with high-performance in dual-modal molecular imaging

Carbon dots (CDs), possessing unexpected advantages of photostability, biocompatibility and low toxicity, are regarded as novel nanomaterials in fluorescence (FL) imaging. Doping Gd element in CDs makes them have the ability to be used for magnetic resonance (MR) and FL imaging simultaneously. However, CDs reported before exhibit obvious defects like low photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY) or biotoxicity. In this work, we use gadolinium meglumine, a material with relatively low biotoxicity, along with citric acid and diethylenetriamine to synthesize Gd-doped CDs (Gd-CDs) by a one-step hydrothermal method. The prepared Gd-CDs exhibit excitation-independent emission with a PL QY of 78.05% and a longitudinal relaxivity of 7.37 mM^-1 S^-1, which endows the composite with high-performance in MR/FL imaging. Meanwhile, the FL intensity of Gd-CDs remains stable in the presence of multiple amino acids, which indicates that the FL imaging effect should not be impacted significantly in microenvironments in vivo. In addition to the inconspicuous cytotoxicity, Gd-CDs could be used efficiently for dual-modal molecular imaging to detect diseases such as tumors in the early stages.

A multifunctional near-infrared fluorescent sensing material based on core-shell upconversion nanoparticles@magnetic nanoparticles and molecularly imprinted polymers for detection of deltamethrin

The construction of multifunctional sensors has attracted considerable attention due to their multifunctional properties, such as high sensitivity and rapid detection. Herein, near-infrared multifunctional fluorescent sensing materials based on core-shell upconversion nanoparticle@magnetic nanoparticle and molecularly imprinted polymers were synthesized for rapid detection of deltamethrin. The difunctional core-shell upconversion nanoparticle@magnetic nanoparticle was introduced as the optical signal and rapid separator. Firstly, the difunctional core-shell materials were prepared through solvothermal method. Then, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) as recognition elements for deltamethrin were coated on the surface of upconversion nanoparticle@magnetic nanoparticle through polymerization. The structure and recognition characterizations of multifunctional fluorescent sensing materials were evaluated. Under optimal condition, the imprinting factor of sensing materials was 3.63, and the fluorescence intensity of sensing materials decreased linearly with increasing concentration of deltamethrin from 0.001 to 1 mg L^-1 with a detection limit of 0.749 μg L^-1, and a relative standard deviation of 3.10% was obtained with 5 mg L^-1 deltamethrin. The sensing materials showed a high selectivity and were successfully utilized for the detection of deltamethrin in grapes and cabbages; the results showed that the recoveries for two samples obtained were 95.6-102% and 91.8-105%.

Molecularly Imprinted Polymer-Quantum Dot Materials in Optical Sensors: An Overview of Their Synthesis and Applications

In the last decades analytical methods have focused on the determination of target analytes at very low concentration levels. This has been accomplished through the use of traditional analytical methods that usually require high reagent consumption, expensive equipment and long pretreatment steps. Thus, there is a demand for simple, rapid, highly selective and user-friendly detection procedures. Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor fluorescent nanomaterials with unique optoelectronic properties that have shown great potential for the development of fluorescence probes. Besides, the combination of QDs with molecularly imprinted polymer (MIPs), synthetic materials with selective recognition, have been proposed as useful materials in the development of optical sensors. The resulting MIP-QDs optical sensors integrate the advantages of both techniques: the high sensitivity of QDs-based fluorescence sensors and the high selectivity of MIPs. This review gives a brief overview of the strategies for the synthesis of MIPs-QDs based optical sensors, highlighting the modifications in the synthesis procedure that improve the sensor performance. Finally, a revision of recent applications in sensing and bioimaging is presented.

A review of the incorporation of QDs and imprinting technology in optical sensors – imprinting methods and sensing responses

This review aims to cover the simultaneous method of using molecularly imprinted technology and quantum dots (QDs) as well as its application in the field of optical sensors.