A nanocomposite optosensor consisting of carboxylic acid functionalized multiwall
carbon nanotubes and CdTe quantum dots embedded inside a molecularly imprinted polymer
(COOH@MWCNT-MIP-QDs) was developed for trace ciprofloxacin detection. The
COOH@MWCNT-MIP-QDs were synthesized through a facile sol-gel process using
ciprofloxacin as a template molecule, 3-aminopropylethoxysilane as a functional monomer
and tetraethoxysilane as a cross-linker at a molar ratio of 1:8:20. The synthesized
nanocomposite optosensor had high sensitivity, excellent specificity and high binding affinity
to ciprofloxacin. Under optimal conditions, the fluorescence intensity of the optosensor
decreased in a linear fashion with the concentration of ciprofloxacin and two linear dynamic
ranges were obtained, 0.10–1.0 g L-1
and 1.0–100.0 g L-1with a very low limit of detection
of 0.066 g L-1
.The imprinting factors of the two linear range were 17.67 and 4.28,
respectively. The developed nanocomposite fluorescence probe was applied towards the
determination of ciprofloxacin levels in chicken muscle and milk samples with satisfactory
recoveries being obtained in the range of 82.6 to 98.4%. The results were also in good
agreement with a HPLC method which indicates that the optosensor can be used as a
sensitive, selective and rapid method to detect ciprofloxacin in chicken and milk sample.
[This version of the abstract is from the authors' manuscript and is not the final published version]