Dual-functional monomers synergistically facilitate the assembly of a CoNiZn@C-based molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor for highly sensitive detection of zearalenone

To enable sensitive quantitative detection of zearalenone (ZEN) in cereal matrices, this study develops a molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor. A three-dimensional flower-shaped carbon composite material (CoNiZn@C), synthesized from a ternary CoNiZn metal–organic framework, was utilized as a highly conductive substrate featuring excellent electrical conductivity and abundant binding sites. Density functional theory calculations were conducted to elucidate the intermolecular interactions and cooperative recognition mechanisms between zearalenone and the selected monomers. Experimentally, the AuNPs-based thioaniline units (PATP@AuNPs) and pyrrole were employed as bifunctional monomers. Specifically, PATP@AuNPs can be stably immobilized on the substrate surface to enhance interfacial electron transfer efficiency, while simultaneous in situ copolymerization of the two monomers generates numerous non-covalent binding cavities capable of specifically recognizing ZEN. Under optimized experimental conditions, the sensor exhibited a linear detection range from 10 nM to 1000 µM and a detection limit as low as 1.6 nM. This detection approach is straightforward, cost-effective, and demonstrates excellent specificity and sensitivity, indicating substantial potential for rapid screening and quantitative analysis of mycotoxins in agricultural products. Graphical