A UCMPs@MIL-100 based thermo-sensitive molecularly imprinted fluorescence sensor for effective detection of β-lactoglobulin allergen in milk products

In this study, a thermo-sensitive molecularly imprinted fluorescence sensor was developed for the specific detection of beta-Lactoglobulin (beta-LG) allergen in milk products. The metal-organic frameworks (MIL-100) with a high specific surface area was coated on the surface of upconversion micro-particles (UCMPs). As the core, an imprinted polymer layer allowing for swelling and shrinking with response to temperature was prepared, which exhibited high adsorption and mass transfer capabilities for beta-LG allergen. The fluorescence intensity of UCMPs@MIL-100@MIP decreased linearly with the concentration of beta-LG in the range of 0.1-0.8 mg mL(-1), and the limit of detection was 0.043 mg mL(-1). The imprinting factor reached 3.415, which indicated that excellent specificity of the UCMPs@MIL-100@MIP for beta-LG allergen. In the analysis of beta-LG allergen in actual milk samples, the proposed UCMPs@MIL-100@MIP fluorescence sensor produced reliable and accurate results (recovery: 86.0-98.4%, RSD: 2.8-6.8%), closely related to the results of standard HPLC method (correlation coefficient: 0.9949), indicating that its feasibility in the detection of beta-LG allergen.