A novel molecularly imprinted sensor for selectively probing imipramine created on ITO electrodes modified by Au nanoparticles

A sensitive molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor was created for selective detection of a tricyclic antidepressant imipramine by combination of Au nanoparticles (Au-NPs) with a thin molecularly imprinted film. The sensor was fabricated onto the indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode via stepwise modification of Au-NPs by self-assembly and a thin film of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) via sol-gel technology. It was observed that the molecularly imprinted film displayed excellent selectivity towards the target molecule imipramine. Meanwhile, the introduced Au-NPs exhibited noticeable catalytic activities towards imipramine oxidation, which remarkably enhanced the sensitivity of the imprinted film. Due to such combination, the as-prepared sensor responded quickly to imipramine, within only 1 min of incubation. The differential voltammetric anodic peak current was linear to the logarithm of imipramine concentration in the range from 5.0 × 10⁻⁶ to 1.0 × 10⁻³ mol L⁻¹, and the detection limits obtained was 1.0 × 10⁻⁹ mol L⁻¹. This method proposed was successfully applied to the determination of imipramine in drug tablets, and proven to be reliable compared with conventional UV method. These results reveal that such a sensor fulfills the selectivity, sensitivity, speed and simplicity requirements for imipramine detection, and provides possibilities of clinical application in physiological fluids.