Selective determination of trace bisphenol a using molecularly imprinted silica nanoparticles containing quenchable fluorescent silver nanoclusters

We describe a kind of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-based fluorescent sensor. It was obtained by anchoring a surface-imprinted MIP layer for the model analyte bisphenol A (BPA) onto the surface of fluorescent silver nanoclusters (Ag-NCs). The MIP-coated Ag-NCs were synthesized by the sol-gel technique. The hyphenation of the fluorescence of Ag-NCs with MIP technology expands the use of fluorescent nanomaterials in sensing and recognition. BPA is capable of quenching the fluorescence of the Ag-NCs, and the reduction in fluorescence intensity is related to the concentration of BPA in the 0.2 mu g mL(-1) to 2 mg L-1 range. The detection limit for BPA is 0.02 mu g mL(-1), and the recovery of BPA from spiked milk and juice samples ranged from 92.5 to 108.5 %. The MIP-coated Ag-NCs presented here are characterized by their ease of synthesis, selectivity and sensitivity. In our perception, this approach can be extended to numerous other analytes.