Enhancement of Sensitivity of Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Based Parathion Voltammetric Sensor by Using Experimental Design Techniques

Molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP), having recognition sites for parathion, was used for carbon paste electrode fabrication and then used as a voltammetric sensor for parathion determination. Different factors including electrode composition, conditions of parathion extraction in the electrode and electrochemical measurement parameters were evaluated and then optimized by using various techniques of screening and response surface experimental design. After optimization, very high sensitivity and sub-nanomolar detection limit were obtained successfully. It was shown that the sensor response for parathion concentration was linear in the range of 0.3-710 nM. Detection limit of designed sensor was calculated equal to 0.07 nM. It was shown that the application of multivariate optimization method instead of traditional optimization method led to considerable improvement in the final sensor performance.