Design and preparation of imprinted surface plasmon resonance (SPR) nanosensor for detection of Zn(II) ions

A novel Zn(II) ions imprinted poly (2-hydroxyethyl Methacrylate-N-methacryloyl-(L)-histidine methyl ester) poly(HEMAH) surface plasmon resonance (SPR) nanosensor were designed for detection of Zn(II) ions in aqueous solution and artificial plasma providing a low cost, rapid and reliable results compared to other techniques such as atomic absorption spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer, X-ray fluorescence with synchrotron radiation. Zn(II) ions imprinted nanofilm on the SPR chip surface was synthesized by bulk polymerization. Characterization of Zn(II) ions imprinted nanosensor was performed by contact angle measurement, atomic force microscopy (AFM), ellipsometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR). Designed nanosensor was applied for selective detection of Zn(II) ions in aqueous solution within the range of 0.5–1.0 µg/mL. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were calculated as 0.19 and 0.64 ng/mL, respectively. Association kinetics analysis, Scatchard, Langmuir, Freundlich, Langmuir–Freundlich, Tempkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherms were analyzed to the experimental data in order to identify the adsorption behavior. The selectivity of the SPR nanosensor was examined by using competitive metal ions such as Cd(II), Cu(II), Pb(II), and Fe(II). To evaluate the imprinting effect of Zn(II) ions imprinted (MIP) and non-imprinted (NIP) nanosensor was also prepared as the control. Repeatability of the response signal was tested by four times adsorption–desorption–regeneration cycle.