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Synthesis and application of poly(methacrylic acid-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) as molecularly imprinted polymer in electrochemical sensor for atrazine detection

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Abstract

Atrazine (ATZ) is one of the most widely used triazine herbicides in the world; it is highly toxic and poses a risk to environmental balance and human health. Therefore, its detection and monitoring of allowed concentrations are vital, preferably using simple and relatively low-cost analytical methods. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are synthetic structures containing imprinted nanocavities that can specifically bind to their target with high sensitivity, selectivity, and viability. In this work, MIPs were synthesized by the precipitation method, using methacrylic acid as a functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as a crosslinker, and atrazine as a template molecule in a single polymerization step, unlike other complex methodologies reported in the literature. For comparison purposes, NIP (non-imprinted polymer) was prepared. MIPs and NIPs were characterized using infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Through cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse (DP), atrazine was detected in an accurate spring water sample containing 1 to 100 ppb of the herbicide. The limit of detection (LOD) found was 0.02. Therefore, it was possible to synthesize an efficient MIP for detecting atrazine in spring water through a simple methodology.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq, 302661/2020-4) and Central Analytica-UFC (funded by Finep-CT-INFRA, CAPES-Pró-Equipamentos and MCTI-CNPq-SisNano2.0) by the microscopy measurements.

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  1. Embrapa Agroindústria Tropical, CEP 60511-110, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

    Maria Leônia da Costa Gonzaga, Marília de Albuquerque Oliveira & Roselayne Ferro Furtado

  2. Departamento de Química, Universidade Estadual do Ceará, CEP 60714903, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

    Carlúcio Roberto Alves

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  1. Maria Leônia da Costa Gonzaga
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da Costa Gonzaga, M.L., de Albuquerque Oliveira, M., Furtado, R.F. et al. Synthesis and application of poly(methacrylic acid-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) as molecularly imprinted polymer in electrochemical sensor for atrazine detection. J Solid State Electrochem (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-024-05876-9

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