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Highly sensitive folic acid colorimetric sensor enabled by free-standing molecularly imprinted photonic hydrogels

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Abstract

Folic acid is an important biological compound for human disease diagnosis. Traditional detection methods of folic acid are mostly time-consuming or dependent on analytical equipment. Here we demonstrate the rapid and colorimetric detection of folic acid using a novel colorimetric sensor enabled by molecularly imprinted photonic hydrogels, which are prepared by the polymerization of precursor solution in the interstitial voids of the polystyrene colloidal crystal and subsequent removal of colloidal crystal and folic acid molecules. As folic acid is instable under the preparation process of molecularly imprinted photonic hydrogels, we introduce folic acid (imprinted molecule) in the form of supramolecular complex with β-CD units to improve its stability and further create stable molecular recognition sites. The folic acid recognition can be directly transferred into a visually perceptible color change due to the highly ordered macroporous structure. With this novel sensory system, the highly selective, high sensitive (as low as 10–12 M), and rapid response (< 60 s) to folic acid is achieved without the use of instruments.

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A novel folic acid colorimetric sensor enabled by molecularly imprinted photonic hydrogels is successfully prepared.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant No.21571084), National First-Class Discipline Program of Light Industry Technology and Engineering (LIFE2018-19), MOE & SAFEA for the 111 Project (B13025), Scientific Research Starting Foundation for PhD (BT2015-01), and the Union of Industry-Study-Research in Jiangsu (BY2020441).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Technology, Wuxi Institute of Technology, Wuxi, 214121, P. R. China

    Zhaokun Yang, Fanghong Gong & Zhangyong Yu

  2. Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, P. R. China

    Zhaokun Yang, Dongjian Shi, Shirong Liu & Mingqing Chen

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  1. Zhaokun Yang
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  2. Fanghong Gong
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Correspondence to Fanghong Gong or Mingqing Chen.

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Yang, Z., Gong, F., Yu, Z. et al. Highly sensitive folic acid colorimetric sensor enabled by free-standing molecularly imprinted photonic hydrogels. Polym. Bull. 79, 1857–1871 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-021-03584-2

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