A high affinity borate ester bond molecularly imprinted sensor based on multistage amplification of UCNPs-NH2 electrochemiluminescence with bifunctional synergistic accelerator CeO2 @N-MC for ultrasensitive detection of ribavirin

A molecularly imprinted electrochemiluminescence sensor (MIECLS) was constructed to detect ribavirin (RBV) using a bifunctional synergistic accelerator as an enhancement tool combined with boronic acid affinity molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP). Amino-functionalized upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs-NH2) generated an electrochemiluminescence signal and promoted the production of sulfate anion radicals (SO4−•), achieving self-enhancement. Nanosized ceria (CeO2) was spatially matched with the pores of nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon (N-MC) to form CeO2@N-MC. N-MC not only prevented CeO2 from self-aggregation but also provided electron transfer channels. The doping of CeO2 provided cyclic catalytic sites (Ce3+/Ce4+) that promoted SO4−• generation, shortening the redox reaction distance. The high-speed electron transfer center and high-efficiency cycle catalytic center enabled the bifunctional synergistic effect of CeO2@N-MC, thus greatly improving the electrochemiluminescence signal. Simultaneously, MIP formed by the combination of covalent and noncovalent actions was grafted onto the electrochemiluminescence sensing interface to construct MIECLS. The detection range and the limit of detection (LOD) were found to be 1 × 10−9–5 × 10−6 mol L−1 and 2.27 × 10−10 mol L−1, respectively. MIECLS was used for the detection of RBV in real samples with the recoveries of 86.12–95.90 %, which was consistent with the HPLC results.