Surface molecularly imprinted polymer-based sensors for antibiotic detection

Among the various types of contaminants, residual antibiotics are of particular concern due to their persistence even at low concentrations in environmental matrices such as water, wastewater, and food products. This persistence is correlated with the development of antimicrobial resistance, which poses a serious threat to human health. Consequently, different sensing techniques have been developed to monitor antibiotics in different matrices. Recently developed sensors for antibiotic detection have been integrated with molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) as stable, low-cost, easily manufactured, and selective antibiotic-capturing elements. Surface molecularly imprinted polymers (SMIPs) show significant advantages over conventional MIPs in terms of promoting faster binding and minimizing the template embedding problem during the template removal step after polymerization. This manuscript reviews the analytical techniques for antibiotic detection using SMIPs including optical sensors (based on fluorescence, surface plasmon resonance, and surface-enhanced Raman spectrum) and electrochemical sensors (based on square wave voltammetry, differential pulse voltammetry, cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical luminescence, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy). SMIPs have been developed using different methods, including photo polymerization, heat-assisted polymerization, or electrical polymerization techniques on diverse sensor surfaces. This review compiles a summary of 49 published articles that utilize SMIP integrated with different types of sensors for the detection of different classes of antibiotics (beta-lactams, cephalosporins, macrolides, sulfonamides, tetracyclines, lincosamides, nitroimidazole, chloramphenicol, quinolones, and others) in different sample types (food products, pharmaceutical dosage forms, water, and biological samples). Studies indicate that SMIP-integrated sensors are a promising technique for the determination of antibiotics at very low concentrations in different sample types as alternatives to traditional analytical techniques. However, some critical challenges, including low selectivity and interference issues, as well as the use of non-biodegradable polymers must be addressed.