Development of a novel deltamethrin sensor based on molecularly imprinted silica nanospheres embedded CdTe quantum dots

A novel procedure for the determination of deltmethrin (DM) is reported. The water-soluble CdTe quantum dots (QDs) and highly fluorescent silica molecularly imprinted nanospheres embedded CdTe QDs (CdTe–SiO 2 -MIPs) were prepared and characterized by fluorescence spectroscopy, UV–vis spectroscopy, TEM and IR. The fluorescence nanosensor based CdTe–SiO 2 -MIPs is developed. The possible quenching mechanism is discussed by DM. Under optimal conditions, the relative fluorescence intensity of CdTe–SiO 2 -MIPs decreased with increasing DM by a Stern–Volmer type equation in the concentration range of 0.5–35.0   μg   mL −1 , the corresponding detection limit is 0.16   μg   mL −1 . The developed sensor based on CdTe–SiO 2 -MIPs was applied to determine DM in fruit and vegetable samples.