Fiber optic SPR sensor for the detection of 3-pyridinecarboxamide (vitamin B3) using molecularly imprinted hydrogel

Molecular imprinting and colloidal crystal templating are the powerful techniques for the realization of a sensing platform. Present study reports a new technique for the detection of 3-pyridinecarboxamide (PA) using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based optical fiber sensor by combining colloidal crystal and molecular-imprinted hydrogel. The sensor works on spectral interrogation technique. To calibrate, SPR spectra were recorded for different solutions of PA with concentration range 0–10 mg/ml. SPR spectra showed a red shift with increasing concentration of PA, which is due to the interaction of PA molecules over the specific binding sites caused by the molecular imprinting. The sensitivity of the sensor is found to be 1.483 nm/(mg/ml). The present study has many advantageous features such as small probe size, low cost, reusable probe, online and remote sensing and fast PA sensor response.