A novel strategy for selective determination of d-penicillamine based on molecularly imprinted polypyrrole electrode via the electrochemical oxidation with ferrocyanide

A novel electrochemical sensor based on d-penicillamine (d-PA) molecularly imprinted polypyrrole film on a glassy carbon electrode was fabricated. The complementary cavities located on the surface of molecularly imprinted polypyrrole film were used for subsequent template recognition. It was confirmed that the molecularly imprinted polypyrrole modified glassy carbon electrode (MIP-GCE) showed greater recognition ability than the non-molecularly imprinted polypyrrole modified glassy carbon electrode (NIP-GCE). Considering the electrochemical oxidation of d-PA with ferrocyanide and the specific recognition of molecular imprinting technique, the highly selective determination of d-penicillamine was achieved on the d-PA molecularly imprinted polypyrrole modified glassy carbon electrodes using ferrocyanide as an electrochemical probe. Several factors affecting sensor response, such as film thickness, template concentration, and the pH of phosphate buffer solution, were investigated to achieve optimum electrochemical response to d-PA at the MIP-GCE. The MIP-GCE revealed highly linear behavior in the concentration range of 10.0–480.0 μmol L−1 with the detection limit of 3.5 μmol L−1 for d-PA. The novel sensor has been applied to the determination of d-PA in real biological samples with satisfactory results.