Preparation and Application of Imprinted Electrochemical Sensor Based on Dopamine Self-Polymerization

An imprinted polymer layer was easily modified on the Au electrode surface by spontaneous oxidative polymerization of dopamine in the presence of theophylline to fabricate a novel imprinted electrochemical sensor. The results of scanning electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry measurements demonstrated the successfully preparation of the imprinted sensor. The effects of ratio between theophylline and dopamine, polymerization pH and time were optimized. The prepared sensor exhibited specific adsorption, selective recognition, and sensitive detection capacities toward theophylline. The linear response to theophylline ranged from 2.0 × 10−7-1.6 × 10−4 mol L−1 with a detection limit of 1.0 × 10−7 mol L−1. Moreover, the sensor could be applied in the detection of theophylline in real samples with satisfactory results. It can be reasonably expected that this simple, novel, and efficient strategy for imprinted sensor preparation based on dopamine self-polymerization provides a promising platform for other molecule recognition and detection.