A sensitive fluorescent nanosensor for chloramphenicol based on molecularly imprinted polymer-capped CdTe quantum dots

A novel fluorescent nanosensor using molecularly imprinted silica nanospheres embedded CdTe quantum dots (CdTe@SiO2@MIP) was developed for detection and quantification of chloramphenicol (CAP). The imprinted sensor was prepared by synthesis of molecularly imprinting polymer (MIP) on the hydrophilic CdTe quantum dots via reverse microemulsion method using small amounts of solvents. The resulting CdTe@SiO2@MIP nanoparticles were characterized by fluorescence, UV–vis absorption and FT-IR spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. They preserved 48% of fluorescence quantum yield of the parent quantum dots. CAP remarkably quenched the fluorescence of prepared CdTe@SiO2@MIP, probably via electron transfer mechanism. Under the optimal conditions, the relative fluorescence intensity of CdTe@SiO2@MIP decreased with increasing CAP by a Stern–Volmer type equation in the concentration range of 40–500 µg L–1. The corresponding detection limit was 5.0 µg L–1. The intra-day and inter-day values for the precision of the proposed method were all <4%. The developed sensor had a good selectivity and was applied to determine CAP in spiked human and bovine serum and milk samples with satisfactory results. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.