Highly sensitive electrochemical sensing of moxifloxacin based on molecularly imprinted and Au nanoparticle functionalized PEDOT composites

The misuse of antibiotics and continuous antimicrobial resistance is one of the critical challenges facing society today. It is therefore crucial for food safety and environmental protection to develop an analytical technique for the selective detection of trace antibiotics. In this paper, worm-like Au/Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (Au/PEDOT) composites were designed and imprinted with polypyrrole (Ppy) in the presence of moxifloxacin, and molecularly imprinted sensors (MIP/Au/PEDOT/GCE) were prepared for the ultrasensitive detection of moxifloxacin (MOX). It was found that the Au/PEDOT worm-like structure provided a large surface area, increased the number of molecularly imprinted recognition sites, and improved electrochemical sensitivity. The molecularly imprinted sensor has a linear detection range of 0.004–20 μM, a lower detection limit of 1.109 nM, good interference immunity and stability. In addition, the sensor demonstrated good recoveries for the detection of MOX in real samples, indicating the potential of the sensor to be suitable for food and drug safety testing. This work offers a new strategic solution for the accurate quantitative detection of MOX.