Highly sensitive and selective dopamine determination using a photoelectrochemical sensor based on the BiVO4 and surface molecularly imprinted poly(acrylic acid-co-TRIM) on vinyl functionalized carbon nanotubes.

• A nanocomposite BiVO 4 /MWCNT/MIP was developed for photoelectrochemical determination of dopamine. • A synergic effect of BiVO 4 and MWCNT/MIP was noticed. • The PEC sensor was selective towards the dopamine even in the presence of other compounds. This paper describes the development of a new photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensor for dopamine (DA) determination based on the nanocomposite constituted of a molecularly imprinted poly(acrylic acid- co -TRIM) functionalized onto MWCNT with vinyl groups (MWCNT-MIP) physically mixed with monoclinic bismuth vanadate. Synthesized polymeric materials were characterized by FT-IR, TGA, SEM and TEM. The sensor based on glassy carbon electrode modified with BiVO 4 /MWCNT-MIP provided a limit of detection (LOD) of 31.1 nmol/L and a linear range from 103.6 to 2500 nmol/L. The proposed sensor exhibited selectivity to DA in competitive analysis with epinephrine, norepinephrine, ascorbic acid, citric acid, uric acid, creatine and urea, and it was applied for analysis of DA in simulated urine samples using external calibration curve with accuracy attested by recovery values between 91 and 106 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]