Electrochemical sensoring of 2,4-dinitrophenol by using composites of graphene oxide with surface molecular imprinted polymer

A simple surface molecular imprinted approach was developed to synthesize composites of molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) with graphene oxide (GO) in aqueous solution, where 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) was used as the template. The GO-MIP composites were characterized with, FT-IR, Raman spectroscopy, SEM and EDAX. The composites were demonstrated to have high adsorption capacity, excellent selectivity and site accessibility for the target pollutant DNP under optimal conditions. The composites were used to fabricate sensor for the determination of DNP, and the electrochemical behaviors of the sensor in the presence of DNP were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). Under optimal conditions by the DPV, there was a good linear correlation between the current of the cathodic peak at about −0.35 V (vs. saturated calomel electrode) and the concentration of DNP in the range of 1.0–150.0 μM. The electrochemical sensor was satisfactorily applied to determine DNP in practical water samples.