Abstract Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) offer several advantages, including high stability, rapid synthesis, and excellent selectivity. In this study, a novel MMIP-based electrochemical sensor was developed for the detection of a harmful food additive, sunset yellow (SY) dye. The MMIPs were synthesized via precipitation polymerization to create SY-specific binding sites using acrylamide monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) cross-linker, and azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator. Corresponding magnetic non-imprinted polymers (MNIPs) were also prepared for comparison. Both MMIPs and MNIPs were characterized using FTIR, XRD, SEM, and XRF techniques. FTIR confirmed the presence of magnetite and acrylamide bands, while SEM revealed irregular morphology with cavities on the MMIPs’ surface, having an average particle size of 64 nm. XRD patterns exhibited both crystalline and amorphous features, and the crystal size calculated by Debye–Scherrer equation was 16.28 nm. Batch adsorption experiments showed a maximum sorption capacity of 85 mg/g at pH 2, sorbent dosage of 2 mg, and concentration of 30 ppm within 18 min. The adsorption data obey the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Furthermore, MMIPs were applied as electrochemical sensors using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave adsorptive anodic stripping voltammetry (SWAdASV). The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 2.65 × 10⁻ 4 M and 8.05 × 10⁻ 4 M, respectively, within a linear detection range of 1.51 × 10⁻ 3 –1.51 × 10⁻⁶ M (R 2 = 0.9946). The MMIP-based sensor demonstrated excellent adsorption capacity, selectivity, and reusability, as an efficient electrochemical platform for detecting food dyes and other environmental pollutants. Graphical abstract
Ali et al. (Sun,) studied this question.