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A highly selective electrochemical sensor based on molecularly imprinted polypyrrole-modified gold electrode for the determination of glyphosate in cucumber and tap water

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Abstract

An electrochemical sensor based on molecularly imprinted polypyrrole (MIPPy) was developed for selective and sensitive detection of the herbicide glyphosate (Gly) in cucumber and tap water samples. The sensor was prepared via synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymers on a gold electrode in the presence of Gly as the template molecule and pyrrole as the functional monomer by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The sensor preparation conditions including the ratio of template to functional monomers, number of CV cycles in the electropolymerization process, the method of template removal, incubation time, and pH were optimized. Under the optimal experimental conditions, the DPV peak currents of hexacyanoferrate/hexacyanoferrite changed linearly with Gly concentration in the range from 5 to 800 ng mL−1, with a detection limit of 0.27 ng mL−1 (S/N = 3). The sensor was used to detect the concentration of Gly in cucumber and tap water samples, with recoveries ranging from 72.70 to 98.96%. The proposed sensor showed excellent selectivity, good stability and reversibility, and could detect the Gly in real samples rapidly and sensitively.

Schematic illustration of the experimental procedure to detect Gly using the MIPPy electrode

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Contact No. 31471654), the National Key Technology R&D Program for the 12th five-year plan (2014BAD13B05-05), the Agricultural Public Welfare Project and Innovative Research Team in Chinese academy of agricultural sciences (201203094), and the Key Laboratory of Agrifood Safety and Quality, Ministry of Agriculture of China (2016-KF-10).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Agro-product Quality and Food Safety, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Quality Standards & Testing Technology for Agro-Products, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Chao Zhang, Yongxin She, Fengnian Zhao, Maojun Jin, Lufei Zheng, Shanshan Wang, Fen Jin, Hua Shao & Jing Wang

  2. Department of Food Science, College of Agriculture, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, Hebei, 056021, China

    Tengfei Li

  3. College of Agriculture and Biology Technology, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, Hangzhou, 31000, China

    Yirong Guo

  4. Tibet Testing Center of Quality and Safety for Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Products, Lhasa, Tibet, 850000, China

    Haijin Liu

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  1. Chao Zhang
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Zhang, C., She, Y., Li, T. et al. A highly selective electrochemical sensor based on molecularly imprinted polypyrrole-modified gold electrode for the determination of glyphosate in cucumber and tap water. Anal Bioanal Chem 409, 7133–7144 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-017-0671-5

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