In situ one-step electrochemical preparation of mesoporous molecularly imprinted sensor for efficient determination of indole-3-acetic acid

In this study, a one-step in situ method was developed for the preparation of mesoporous molecularly imprinted sensor for the determination of indole-3-acetic acid. The as-obtained molecularly imprinted films well maintained the mesoporous structure but numerous microporous formed after removal of indole-3-acetic acid. The molecularly imprinted sensors were characterized by various analytical techniques and the data indicated a substantial increase in the electroactive surface area and electrochemical properties of the as-prepared molecularly imprinted sensor thanks to the micro/nanoporous structure. The sensor also showed much better sensitivity and selectivity toward the electrochemical determination of indole-3-acetic acid when compared to both non-imprinted sensor and bare glassy carbon electrode. Under the optimal experimental conditions, the molecularly imprinted sensor displayed a good linear response toward indole-3-acetic acid from 0.080 to 10 μM with a detection limit of 0.050 μM (S/N = 3) and a good selectivity toward common interfering substances. Moreover, the as-prepared molecularly imprinted sensor successfully determined indole-3-acetic acid in real samples composed of soybean sprout and mungbean sprout. In sum, the suggested simple strategy looks promising for the construction of high sensitivity and selectivity electrochemical sensors.