Development of a thickness shear mode acoustic sensor based on an electrosynthesized molecularly imprinted polymer using an underivatized amino acid as the template

The preparation and characterization of electrosynthesized poly(o-phenylene diamine) (iPoPD) as a molecular imprinting material were studied by an in s itu quartz crystal impedance method. The changes of Deltaf(0), DeltaR(1), D eltaL(1) and DeltaC(0) suggest that the polymer film was compact and rigid. The thickness shear mode (TSM) acoustic sensor modified with this material exhibits molecular recognition ability to the template molecule of dl-phen ylalanine. In the range 2-20 mM, a linear relationship between the frequenc y shift Deltaf(0) and logC was found from the calibration graph. Scatchard analysis of the relevant calibration graph offers information on the equili brium of the binding interaction and the recognition sites. Using this elec tropolymerization technology, the preparation of the sensor was very simple and the reproducibility of preparation was very good. In particular, it of fers possibilities for sensor miniaturization.