Molecular-Imprinted, Polymer-Coated Quartz Crystal Microbalances for the Detection of Terpenes

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Abstract
A piezoelectric sensor coated with an artificial biomimetic recognition element has been developed for the determination of l-menthol in the liquid phase. A highly specific noncovalently imprinted polymer (MIP) was cast in situ on to the surface of a gold-coated quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) electrode as a thin permeable film. Selective rebinding of the target analyte was observed as a frequency shift quantified by piezoelectric microgravimetry with the QCM. The detectability of l-menthol was 200 ppb with a response range of 0−1.0 ppm. The response of the MIP-QCM to a range of monoterpenes was investigated with the sensor binding menthol in favor of analogous compounds. The sensor was able to distinguish between the d- and l-enantiomers of menthol owing to the enantioselectivity of the imprinted sites. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing enantiomeric resolution within an MIP utilizing a single monomer-functional moiety interaction. It is envisaged that this technique could be employed to determine the concentration of terpenes in the atmosphere.