Specific recognition and fluorescent determination of aspirin by using core-shell CdTe quantum dot-imprinted polymers

A molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was deposited on the surface of CdTe quantum dots (QDs) to act as a recognition element for aspirin. The MIP was synthesized from 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane as the functional monomer, aspirin as the template, and tetraethoxysilane as the cross-linker via a sol–gel process that leads to surface imprinting. It is shown that the fraction of QDs and the polymerization process affect size and morphology of the MIP-coated QDs. The optical stability, effects of pH, detection time and selective determination of aspirin were optimized. The fluorescence intensity of the particles (photoexcited at 400 nm and measured at 628 nm) decreases linearly with increasing concentration of aspirin in the 2.0–50 μmol L −1 range. The limit of detection (at an S/N of 3) is 0.25 μmol L −1 . The method was successfully applied to the determination of aspirin in human urine and saliva. CdTe quantum dots, APTES (the functional monomer), aspirin (the template) and TEOS (the cross-linker) were copolymerized to form a surface-imprinted polymeric network around the template. After extraction of the template, the imprint-coated quantum dots are capable of specifically recognizing aspirin.