A molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor based on gold nanoparticles and multiwalled carbon nanotube–chitosan for the detection of tryptamine

A novel molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor based on gold nanoparticle/chitosan–multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CS–MWCNTs) for sensitive detection of tryptamine was presented. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were synthesized by electropolymerization using 3-thiophenemalonic acid (3-TPA) as a functional monomer, and tryptamine (TA) as the template molecule. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry were used to characterize the electrochemical behavior of the developed sensor. The linear range of the sensor was from 6.0 × 10−8 mol L−1 to 3.0 × 10−5 mol L−1, with the limit of detection (LOD) of 4.17 × 10−8 mol L−1 (S/N = 3). The proposed MIPs sensor exhibited good selectivity for TA, as well as good stability and repeatability. Furthermore, the proposed sensor was applied to determine the TA in cheese and lactobacillus beverage samples and the results implied its feasibility for practical application.