POLY 293-Development of a novel biosensor platform based on a combination of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) and conjugated polymers

Abstract

Molecular imprinted polymers(MPIs) attract considerable interest as synthetic materials mimicking molecular recognition of natural receptors. However, integration of MIPs in clinical diagnostics is difficult because of limitations involving the integration of MIPs with transducers and the transformation of binding events into measurable signals. As a universal solution to these limitations a novel biosensor platform has been developed, in which the readout is achieved using impedance spectroscopy. To obtain a measurable electronic readout, a thin film of the conjugated polymer(OC1 C10-PPV)is used to immobilize the non conducting MIP particles onto the electrode surface. As a proof of principle, a MIP-based sensor for L-nicotine has been prepared. It is demonstrated that in this novel sensor, it is possible to detect L-nicotine in nano-molecular concentrations, whereas no response is observed for L-cotinine. It is anticipated that ourn novel biosensor platform can be useful in many applications, such as clinical diagnostics.