A green synthesis route to develop molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor for selective detection of vancomycin from aqueous and serum samples

Developing rapid, cost-effective, and "green" approaches to achieve environmental sustainability is currently one of the most important issues for addressing water pollution problems. This study presents a green process that relies on a sensitive molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor fabricated on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) using alginate and TiO2 to determine vancomycin (VAN). The Alginate@TiO2/MIP-GCE sensor was found to show excellent efficiency for target molecule recognition. In the experimental study, parameters such as template: polymer ratio, drying time, dropping volume, removal solution and time, and rebinding time, which affect the sensor response, were optimized. The electrochemical behavior of the designed sensor was investigated using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Under optimum conditions, the linear range and limit of detection were found to be 10-100 pM (r = 0.996) and 2.808 pM, respectively. Satisfactory recovery results were obtained for the determination of VAN in serum and tap water samples. Furthermore, the sensor displayed good repeatability and stability for VAN detection. Finally, Analytical GREEnness Metric Approach and Software (AGREE) was applied to evaluate the greenness profile of our method. The fabricated sensor not only had high selectivity and sensitivity but also was developed via a quite green route in terms of the solvents and methods used throughout the experiment.