title: Towards the development of molecularly imprinted polymer based screen-printed sensors for metabolites of PAHs.
abstract: This paper describes the fabrication of a sensor for 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) based on a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) modified with a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP); 1-OHP was chosen as a model metabolite of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). It was shown that 1-OHP could be readily oxidised at a plain SPCE and the electrochemical mechanism was found to involve an ECE (electron transfer-chemical reaction-electron transfer) process. The MIP for 1-OHP was prepared using only divinylbenzene (DVB) and styrene as monomers and the binding was only based on hydrophobic interactions. Batch binding studies revealed that optimum uptake of 1-OHP by the MIP occurred from solutions containing 35% water in methanol. Selectivity of the binding sites in the MIP was examined by performing uptake studies in the same solution containing either phenol or 1-naphthol; the specific binding of 1-OHP was twenty times greater than the former and five times greater than the latter. Preliminary calibration studies were performed with the MIP-SPCE using a two-step approach; accumulation was carried out in 35% water in methanol followed by measurement in 50% methanol-0.025 mol dm(-3) phosphate buffer pH 12. This two-step non-competitive affinity assay gave encouraging results and indicated potential for use in pollution studies.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Analytical, Materials and Sensors Science, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kirsch
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Bird
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Luxton
authors.forename: D V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: McCalley