Synthesis and application of poly(methacrylic acid-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) as molecularly imprinted polymer in electrochemical sensor for atrazine detection

Atrazine (ATZ) is one of the most widely used triazine herbicides in the world; it is highly toxic and poses a risk to environmental balance and human health. Therefore, its detection and monitoring of allowed concentrations are vital, preferably using simple and relatively low-cost analytical methods. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are synthetic structures containing imprinted nanocavities that can specifically bind to their target with high sensitivity, selectivity, and viability. In this work, MIPs were synthesized by the precipitation method, using methacrylic acid as a functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as a crosslinker, and atrazine as a template molecule in a single polymerization step, unlike other complex methodologies reported in the literature. For comparison purposes, NIP (non-imprinted polymer) was prepared. MIPs and NIPs were characterized using infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Through cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse (DP), atrazine was detected in an accurate spring water sample containing 1 to 100 ppb of the herbicide. The limit of detection (LOD) found was 0.02. Therefore, it was possible to synthesize an efficient MIP for detecting atrazine in spring water through a simple methodology.