TWO-STEP MOLECULAR SURFACE IMPRINTING METHOD FOR MAKING A SENSOR

A method is provided for detecting target molecules ( 60 ) using a surface-molecularly imprinted sensor ( 52 ) and more particularly for detecting hydroxyl containing molecules, heavy metal ions, or thiol- or dialkylamine containing molecules by integrating molecular recognition and sensor transduction. The method includes soaking a support surface ( 14 ) in a solution containing a ligand molecule with headgroups that could adsorb on the surface of a substrate, or monomer to create a monolayer, a monolayer of polymerized organosiloxane groups ( 16 ), or a conducting film on the support surface ( 14 ). Template molecules ( 18 ) are then added to the imprinting solution so as to be positioned within the sparsely formed film, wherein the template molecules ( 18 ) comprise hydroxyl containing molecules, heavy metal ions, or thiol and dialkylamine containing molecules which prevents the interaction between monomer/ligand molecules and template molecules ( 18 ). In this case, there is a competitive reaction between the hydroxyl group on the surface of substrate and hydroxyl in ethanol molecule with monomer, e.g. OTS. The template molecules ( 18 ) are removed to define cavities in the imprinted film ( 16 ).