A novel chemiluminescence sensor for determination of quercetin based on molecularly imprinted polymeric microspheres

A novel flow injection chemiluminescence (FI-CL) sensor for determination of quercetin using the system of luminol-NaOH–H2O2 based on molecularly imprinted polymeric microspheres (MIPm) as recognition element is established. The quercetin MIPm was synthesised by precipitation polymerisation using acetone as solvent, acrylamide (AM) as functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as cross-linker and 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator. And the polymers’ properties were characterised. The FI-CL optimised experimental were obtained and the possible mechanism was discussed. The CL intensity responded linearly to the concentration of quercetin ranged from 1.4 × 10−6 to 1.6 × 10−4 mol/L with a detection limit of 9.3 × 10−7 mol/L (3σ). The relative standard deviation (RSD) for determination was ranged from 2.72% to 3.31%. On the basis of speediness and sensitivity, the sensor is reusable and has a great improvement in selectivity. As a result, the new sensor had been successfully applied to the determination of quercetin in drug samples.