A biomimetic potentiometric sensor using molecularly imprinted polymer for the cetirizine assay in tablets and biological fluids

Despite the increasing number of applications of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) in analytical chemistry, the construction of a biomimetic potentiometric sensor remains still challenging. In this work, a biomimetic potentiometric sensor, based on a non-covalent imprinted polymer was fabricated for the recognition and determination of cetirizine. The MIP was synthesized by precipitation polymerization, using cetirizine dihydrochloride as a template molecule, methacrylic acid (MAA) as a functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as a cross linking agent. The sensor showed high selectivity and a sensitive response to the template in aqueous system. The MIP-modified electrode exhibited Nernstian response (28.0 +/- 0.9 mV/decade) in a wide concentration range of 1.0 x 10(-6) to 1.0 x 10(-2) M with a lower detection limit of 7.0 x 10(-7) M. The electrode has response time of ca. 20 s, high performance, high sensitivity, and good long term stability (more than 5 months). The method was satisfactory and used to the cetirizine assay in tablets and biological fluids.