A self-powered sensor based on molecularly imprinted polymer-coupled graphitic carbon nitride photoanode for selective detection of bisphenol A

•A photofuel cell-based self-powered sensor for BPA detection is proposed.•MIP is incorporated with g-C3N4 to construct photofuel cell.•G-C3N4 serves as photoanode while MIP is used as recognition element.•The self-powered sensor exhibits high selectivity towards BTA detection. A visible light-induced self-powered sensor for selective detection of bisphenol A (BPA) based on photofuel cell (PFC) was proposed. The PFC was constructed with a Pt cathode and a photoanode which was prepared by modifying fluoride doped tin oxide (FTO) electrode with graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) and molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP). The MIP/g-C3N4/FTO photoanode possessed high photoelectrocatalytic activity of g-C3N4 and binding ability of MIP towards BPA. Under visible light illumination, the PFC generated different output power densities towards varied concentrations of BPA, and thus it was proposed as a self-powered sensor for BPA. The maximum output power density of the sensor was linearly proportional to the logarithm of BPA concentration ranging from 5 to 100 μmol L−1. Moreover, the proposed self-powered sensor exhibited good selectivity, reproducibility and stability for BPA detection.