Template derivatization-mediated synthesis of highly ordered paper-based imprinted chip for enhanced sulfadiazine analysis

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have gained significant traction in food contaminant analysis owing to their tailorable binding sites and functionalities. Nevertheless, the analysis performance of MIPs fabricated via conventional imprinting methods has been hindered by heterogeneous binding cavities. Herein, we first present a template-derivatization-based oriented surface imprinting strategy to construct paper-based metal organic framework (MOF)-imprinted chips with highly ordered MIPs (FP@B-MOF@MIP) for enhanced sulfadiazine (SDZ) analysis. Cis-dihydroxy-derived SDZ (SDZ-CD) as the dummy template endowed imprinting cavities with high orientation via boronate-affinity oriented recognition. FP@B-MOF@MIP achieved good absorption capacity (76.30 mg g −1 ) and selectivity with the imprinting factor of 5.6 for SDZ. A colorimetric sensor based on FP@B-MOF@MIP was further successfully constructed for the visual determination of trace SDZ in food samples with a low detection limit of 0.0048 mg L −1 . This work provides a flexible strategy to improve the performance of MIPs for monitoring trace contaminants in foodstuffs.