A two-dimensional molecularly imprinted photonic crystal sensor for highly efficient tetracycline detection

Abstract

A two-dimensional (2D) molecularly imprinted photonic crystal (MIPC) sensor for the detection of tetracycline in foods was fabricated. The MIPCs were prepared by a thermal polymerization method with polystyrene 2D photonic crystals (2D-PCs) as the template, tetracycline as the template molecule, acrylamide as the functional monomer, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the crosslinking agent. The detection of tetracycline (TC) using the fabricated MIPC sensor was performed through a visual change in the Debye diffraction ring. Typically, the color of the MIPC turned from red to blue with an 11 mm increase in the diameter of the Debye ring when the TC concentration increased to 10⁻⁶ mol L⁻¹. The fabricated sensor exhibited high selectivity for TC with a response time less than 10 min compared to that for similar compounds. The sensor maintained high sensitivity after five recycles with recoveries of TC around 88.4% and 91.0% in pork and milk samples respectively. We envision that the MIPC sensor could be applied for the detection of TC in food samples and other complicated systems.