Highly Selective Benzo[a]Pyrene Detection Even under Competitive Conditions with Molecularly Imprinted Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor

In this study, a new approach for the detection of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) in aqueous media is presented by combining molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) with surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors. Herein, BaP imprinted sensor was fabricated on a SPR chip in the presence of a pre-polymerization complex of BaP and N-methacryloyl-L-phenylalanine, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA). The developed sensor was characterized by atomic force microscopy, ellipsometry, and contact angle measurements. Association kinetics analysis via Scatchard, Langmuir, Freundlich, Langmuir–Freundlich isotherms were applied to the data and Langmuir adsorption model was found as the most accurate model for the affinity sensor system. MIPs-based SPR sensor linearly responded to BaP in a concentration range of 20-400 ng mL−1 with an excellent LOD of 14.97 ng L−1. The SPR sensor was found to be highly selective toward BaP according to the selectivity study results in the presence of interfering agents such as benzo[b]floranthene (BbF), benzo[k]floranthene (BkF), indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (IcdP), and 1-naphthol. The studies demonstrated that MIPs-based SPR sensor provides rapid and reliable detection and identification of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) within a quite short time.