Highly sensitive molecularly imprinted sensor modified with BC/AuNPs@ZIF-8 for the detection of norfloxacin in animal-derived foods

In this work, we constructed a molecularly imprinted sensor for the specific detection of trace norfloxacin in animal-derived foods, using activated biochar (BC) and gold nanoparticle-modified zeolite imidazolium skeleton-8 (AuNPs@ZIF-8) as the surface modification materials. The prepared materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) were used to optimize the preparation conditions of activated biochar and the molecularly imprinted polymerization and detection conditions. Under the optimal conditions, the constructed sensors exhibited a wide linear range (2–5 nM,5–120 nM) with a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.84 nM. For real sample detection, the prepared sensor achieved satisfactory results in the detection of pork, chicken and milk samples, and the recovery was between 91.35 % and 108.00 %. The results of this study demonstrate that the sensor had great potential for the detection of norfloxacin in food.