A chitosan-based molecularly imprinted polymer sensor modified with nanoparticles for sugar detection

Abstract

The use of sensors in the food industry is essential to determine and preserve the quality of their products. In the food industry, the detection, analysis, quantification, and evaluation of sugars are vital for ensuring and guaranteeing the quality and security of food and beverages. Therefore, a wide variety of electrochemical sensors based on the molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) technique have caught a lot of attention in detecting sugar. After the design of these sensors, the response can be measured by potentiometric or cyclic voltammetric methods. This investigation uses chitosan as a biopolymer to develop MIP sensors. These sensors detect sugars like glucose and lactose. The MIP layer is deposited in a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The response of the MIP sensor is evaluated with a non-imprinted polymer (NIP) sensor created by the absence of the templated molecule. To improve the sensor's capabilities, the influence of adding nanoparticles in the development of MIP sensors has been evaluated. Metallic nanoparticles like gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were used. On the influence of AgNPs, the MIP sensor has a much higher response than the non-modified sensor. The optimized MIP sensor is a viable analytical method for food industrial applications. It detects the presence of sugar in food and raw materials used in food processing.