Tert-butylhydroquinone recognition of molecular imprinting electrochemical sensor based on core–shell nanoparticles

One novel electrochemistry-molecular imprinting sensor for determining tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) in foodstuff was developed. TBHQ-imprinted core–shell nanoparticles (TICSNs) were fabricated using silica nanoparticles as core material. The silica nanoparticles were modified with (3-chloropropyl) trimethoxysilan and polyethylenimine, respectively, and polymerised to form the TICSNs with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as cross-linker. The specific core–shell structure demonstrates extremely high specific surface area which greatly increases the effective binding sites and improves the recognition capability for model molecules. Under the optimal conditions, the linear range of the calibration curve was 0.1–50.0 mg kg−1 with the detection limit of 0.27 mg kg−1. The sensor has been successfully applied to the determination of TBHQ in food samples and achieved high sensitivity and selectivity.