Synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymers based on nitrogen-doped carbon dots for specific detection of chlortetracycline by reversed phase microemulsion method.

Among the tetracycline antibiotics, chlortetracycline (CTC) is the most frequently used antibiotic except for tetracycline (TC) for enhancing the ability of the organism to fight bacterial infections. The poor metabolism and degradability of CTC can cause serious health effects. Most studies have focused on the detection and analysis of TC, and research on CTC is relatively scarce. This is because the structures of CTC and TC and oxytetracycline (OTC) are extremely similar, and even indistinguishable. In this study, CTC was used as a template molecule and a molecularly imprinted layer was coated on the surface of highly fluorescent N-CDs using a reversed-phase microemulsion method to form N-CDs@MIPs. It was possible to specifically identify CTC without the influence of TC and OTC, which are extremely similar in structure. By comparing with the non-imprinted polymer (N-CDs@NIPs), it exhibited high sensitivity and selectivity with an imprinting factor of 2.02. And it was used in the determination of CTC in milk with recoveries and relative standard deviations of 96.7%–109.8% and 0.64%–3.27%, respectively, with high accuracy and precision. The specificity of the measurement is excellent compared with other assays, and it is a valid and reliable assay. [Display omitted] • Identify CTC specifically from the extremely similar structures of CTC, TC and OTC. • N-CDs@MIPs accurately detect CTC by a test signal and a validation signal. • The MIT was introduced, which is a source of high selectivity. • The synthesized N-CDs@MIPs retain the highly fluorescent properties of N-CDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]