Ion-imprinted polymer-based receptors for sensitive and selective detection of mercury ions in aqueous environment

Abstract

Interdigital electrodes (IDE) coated with ion-imprinted polymers (IIP) as recognition materials have been tested for screening and ion quantification. For screening of receptors, three polymer systems based on styrene (Sty), N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP), and Styco- NVP were examined to identify an efficient recognition system for mercury ions in an aqueous environment. Results showed that all these polymeric systems can detect analyte even in very low concentration, that is, 10 ppm. Ion-imprinted polystyrene system proved to be an ideal receptor for detecting mercury ions in solution with a detection limit of 2 ppm. The sensitivity of ion-imprinted copolymeric system was further enhanced by making its composite with graphene oxide, and estimated detection limit of composite system was around 1 ppm. Ion- imprinted Sty-co-NVP graphene composite-based sensor system exhibits 2 to 5 times higher sensor response towards templated analyte in comparison to other polymer-based sensor systems. Moreover, the composite-based sensor shows very low or negligible response to competing metal ions with similar or different oxidation states such as Zn, Mg, Na, and As metal ions.