Quantum dots coated with molecularly imprinted polymer as fluorescence probe for detection of cyphenothrin

A newly designed molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) material was fabricated and successfully utilized as recognition element to develop a quantum dots (QDs) based MIP-coated composite for selective recognition of the template cyphenothrin. The MIP-coated QDs were characterized by fluorescence spectrophotometer, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope, dynamic light scattering and X-ray powder diffraction. The fluorescence of the coated QDs is quenched on loading the MIP with cyphenothrin, and the effect is much stronger for the MIP than for the non-imprinted polymer, which indicates the MIP could as a recognition template composite. This method can detect down to 9.0 nmol L-1 of cyphenothrin in water, and a linear relationship has been obtained covering the concentration range of 0.1-80.0 mu mol L-1. The method has been used in the determination of cyphenothrin in water samples and gave recoveries in the range from 88.5% to 97.1% with relative standard deviations in the range of 3.1-6.2%. The present study provides a new and general strategy to fabricate inorganic-organic MIP-coated QDs with highly selective recognition ability in aqueous media and is desirable for chemical probe application. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.