Upconversion particles coated with molecularly imprinted polymers as fluorescence probe for detection of clenbuterol

A novel fluorescence probe based on upconversion particles, YF 3 :Yb 3+ , Er 3+ , coating with molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs@UCPs) has been synthesized for selective recognition of the analyte clenbuterol (CLB), which was characterized by scan electron microscope and X-ray powder diffraction. The fluorescence of the MIPs@UCPs probe is quenched specifically by CLB, and the effect is much stronger than the NIPs@UCPs (non-imprinting polymers, NIPs). Good linear correlation was obtained for CLB over the concentration range of 5.0–100.0   μg   L −1 with a detection limit of 0.12   μg   L −1 ( S/N =3). The developed method was also used in the determination of CLB in water and pork samples, and the recoveries ranged from 81.66% to 102.46% were obtained with relative standard deviation of 2.96–4.98% ( n =3). The present study provides a new and general tactics to synthesize MIPs@UCPs fluorescence probe with highly selective recognition ability to the CLB and is desirable for application widely in the near future.