Surface-imprinted chitosan-coated magnetic nanoparticles modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes biosensor for detection of bovine serum albumin

A surface-imprinting biosensor was prepared for bovine serum albumin (BSA) detection using chitosan-coated magnetic nanoparticles modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MNPs/CS-MWNTs) as a signal amplifier. The property of the MNPs/CS-MWNTs was studied using infrared spectra and their configurations were characterized with scanning electron microscopy. The molecularly imprinted biosensor was tested by differential pulse voltammetry to investigate the relationship between the response current and BSA concentration. The results showed that a wide detection linear range (1.0 × 10−4–1.0 × 10−10 g mL−1) for the determination of bovine serum albumin with the low detection limit of 2.8 × 10−11 g mL−1 for S/N = 3 was obtained. The surface imprinted biosensor exhibited excellent selectivity, high sensitivity, and good reproducibility. The proposed biosensor also exhibited fast balance response time of 30 s, which is propitious to rapid detect protein in spot specimens. The merits of the imprinted biosensor suggested an attractive and broadly applicable way for developing biosensors.