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

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 26; no. 19; p. 5965
• Main Authors: Chen, Xiaoxiao, Liu, Yang, Li, Pu, Xing, Yichen, Huang, Chaobiao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.10.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Adsorption; Aminopropyltriethoxysilane; Binding sites; Cadmium tellurides; Chloramphenicol; Chloromycetin; Electron transfer; Enzymes; Fluorescence; fluorescence quenching; Imprinted polymers; molecular imprinting; Particle size; Polymers; Quantum dots; Quenching; Recognition; Selectivity; Sensors; Signal transduction; Silica; Silicon dioxide
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules26195965

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.