Molecular Imprinted Polymer Based Thermo-Sensitive Electrochemical Sensor for Theophylline Recognition

A novel molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) based thermo-sensitive electrochemical sensor was fabricated by an electropolymerization method using N-isopropylacryamide and theophylline as the monomer and the template molecule, respectively. The [Fe(CN)6]3−/[Fe(CN)6]4− was used as an electrochemical probe to investigate the electrochemical behavior of the prepared sensor. The influence factors including electropolymerization cycles, the utilization of cross-linkers, and the extraction solution were investigated in detail. The sensor exhibited excellent thermo-sensitive behavior to environmental temperature stimuli and displayed a good recognition capacity for template molecules from its analogues. This approach may allow the application of this type of intelligent electrochemical sensor for stimulus-responsive recognition of template molecules.