A novel molecularly imprinted polymer thin film at surface of ZnO nanorods for selective fluorescence detection of para-nitrophenol

Inspired by a surface imprinting-directing polymerization system, an effective and simple synthesis method was first developed to prepare an imprinted polymer thin film at the surface of ZnO nanorods (ZnO NRs), and the composites were used as fluorescence sensors for sensitively and selectively recognizing the target para-nitrophenol (4-NP). The vinyl-modified ZnO NRs were used as the solid supports and optical materials. The obtained materials (MIPs-ZnO NRs), which were composed of ZnO NRs as fluorescence signal and MIPs as molecular selective recognition sites, could sensitively and selectively recognize the template molecules by using the spectrofluorometer. After the experimental conditions were optimized, a linear relationship was obtained covering the linear range of 0.5–14 μmol L−1 with a correlation coefficient of 0.9981. The developed method was applicable to routine trace determination of 4-NP in the spiked river water samples. This study provides a general strategy to fabricate imprinted polymer thin films-coated ZnO NRs with excellent performance for sensor application.