Electrochemical Sensor Prepared from Molecularly Imprinted Polymer for Recognition of 1,3-Dinitrobenzene (DNB)

An electrochemical sensor was modified with multi‐wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) material synthesized with acrylamide and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) in the presence of 1,3‐dinitrobenzene (DNB) as the template molecule. The MWCNT and MIP layers were successively modified on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE), of which the MIP film works as an artificial receptor due to its specific molecular recognition sites. The MIP material was characterized by FT‐IR and electrochemical methods of square wave voltammetry (SWV). The interferences of other nitroaromatic compounds (NAC) such as 2,4,6‐trinitrotoluene (TNT), 1,3,5‐trinitrobenzene (TNB) and 2,4‐dinitrotoluene (DNT) to DNB were also investigated by the prepared MIP/MWCNT electrode. Compared with other traditional sensors, the MIP/MWCNT modified electrode shows good selectivity and sensitivity. In addition, the current responses to DNB are linear with the concentration ranging from 4.5×10^?8 to 8.5×10^?6 mol/L with the detection limits of 2.5×10^?8 (?0.58 V) and 1.5×10^?8 mol/L (?0.69 V) (S/N=3). The construction process of MIP/MWCNT modified electrode was also studied as well. All results indicate that the MIP/MWCNT modified electrode established an improving way for simple, fast and selective analysis of DNB.