Manufacturing of a Sensitive and Selective Optical Sensor Based on Molecularly Imprinted Polymers and Green Carbon Dots Synthesized from Cedrus Plant for Trace Analysis of Propranolol.

In this article, a new optical sensor was developed using a molecularly imprinted polymers layer coated with new green carbon dots (CDs) for the determination of propranolol. First, the CDs were synthesized for the first time from Cedrus plant through the hydrothermal method. Then, a nanolayer molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was applied on the CDs (MIP-CDs) in the presence of propranolol as a template using a reverse microemulsion technique. Afterward, propranolol was removed from MIP-CDs nanocomposites using a mixture of ethanol and acetonitrile, and the obtained nanocomposite was used as a fluorescence sensor for propranolol determination. Under the optimal conditions, the sensor response was linear in the range of 0.8 - 65.0 nmol L-1 with a detection limit of 0.2 nmol L-1. The results confirmed that the sensor has some advantages such as cost-effectiveness, rapid response, high sensitivity and selectivity for propranolol determination.

Application of coated green source carbon dots with silica molecularly imprinted polymers as a fluorescence probe for selective and sensitive determination of phenobarbital.

Herein, a selective and sensitive fluorescence sensor was developed for the detection of phenobarbital, an epilepsy drug, using molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) coated on the surface of green source carbon dots (GSCDs). First, GSCDs were synthesized through a hydrothermal method using Cedrus as a carbon source. Then, a MIPs-GSCDs as a fluorescence probe was obtained by coating a thin film of silica on the surface of the GSCDs using a reverse micro emulsion method. In this step, phenobarbital, 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) were applied as a template, a functional monomer, and cross linker, respectively. The fluorescence signal of MIPs-GSCDs was selectively quenched by phenobarbital rebinding with MIP cavities. The fluorescence quenching signal was applied for phenobarbital sensing at the pH = 8 without the interference of other materials. After optimizing the factors affecting the sensor's response, a linear range between 0.4 and 34.5 nmol L-1 with a detection limit of 0.1 nmol L-1 was obtained. The sensor's capability in the real sample analysis was investigated by phenobarbital determination in a human blood plasma samples.