Trace anthracene electrochemical detection based on electropolymerized-molecularly imprinted polypyrrole modified glassy carbon electrode

Abstract This paper reports an electrochemical method for the detection of trace anthracene in waters, based on glassy carbon electrode surfaces functionalized with a molecular imprinted polymer. The electropolymerization of the pyrrole monomer was carried out by cyclic voltammetry in ethanol containing 0.1 M LiClO 4 in the presence of a template, considered as the target molecule: anthracene. It is shown by quartz microbalance, AFM and SEM characterizations that the final anodic potential strongly influenced the thickness of the MIP (molecularly imprinted polypyrrole) layer and its morphology. After extraction of the template by cyclic voltammetry the MIP-GCE (MIP-Glassy Carbon Electrode) electrodes were successfully used for the electrochemical detection of anthracene. The calibration curve was obtained, and the limit of detection and quantification were calculated respectively as 12 and 40 nM (2.12 and 7.07 μg/L). To check the selectivity of the sensor, three interferent molecules, isoproturon, benzo pyrene and naphthalene, were added in the solution, and no interference effect was observed when the concentration of the interferents was of the same order of magnitude as the anthracene.