Investigation of electrochemical reduction and monitoring of p-nitrophenol on imprinted polymer modified electrode

In the present study, a selective and sensitive electrochemical sensor based on molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) for p-nitrophenol (p-NP) detection was developed. For this purpose, MIP was synthesized by precipitation polymerization using methacrylic acid as a functional monomer, ethylene glycol diacrylate as a crosslinking monomer. The morphology and thermal stability were studied using SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and TGA (thermogravimetric analysis) along with FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared) analysis. The electroreduction of p-NP was studied on modified electrode using cyclic voltammetry and diffusion amperometry with LOD (limit of detection) and LOQ (Limit of quantitation) were 0.2 µM and 0.7 µM, respectively, which showed a linear response in a 2 × 10−6 M to 4 × 10−4 M concentration range. The process parameters (coating volume, pH, exposure time) also affected the efficiency of p-NP detection. The fabricated sensor was employed to monitor and detect p-NP in real wastewater sample and up to 95–96% recovery was achieved. Hence, the developed MIP based sensor could be employed for the monitoring and p-NP detection in the effluents. •Simultaneous monitoring and electroreduction of 4-NP using molecular imprinted polymer was studied.•MIP was characterized by FTIR, TGA and SEM techniques.•Effect of electrode coating volume and incubation time on detection was investigated.•The LOD and LOQ limits were 0.2 µM and 0.7 and linearly was in 2×10-6 to 4×10-4 M range.•MIP based electrode was highly sensitive for detection and monitoring of 4-NP in water sample.