Mass Sensitive and Electrochemical Detection of “Chloramphenicol” by Molecularly Imprinted Polymer and Molecular Imprinted Polymer Beads Utilizing Electrochemical Instruments

In this article, we describe an inquiry-based learning experience with detection of “Chloramphenicol” (CAP) using molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) and molecularly imprinted polymer beads (MIP beads) modified glassy carbon electrodes. Two different approaches were utilized to estimate the potential of the MIP and MIP Beads towards CAP detection, one is electrochemical using Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and capacitance measurement using LCR meter and the other is mass sensitive detection using “Quartz Crystal Microbalance”. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was utilized to analyze the morphology of the MIP beads. Modified electrodes for respective instruments were challenged with the increasing concentrations of CAP and they displayed significant response towards these incremental concentrations suggesting that these two approaches with three different instruments can be successfully used for the detection of small molecules like CAP with greater sensitivity and selectivity.