A sensitive molecularly imprinted electrochemical aptasensor for highly specific determination of melamine

•A sensitive electrochemical aptasensor was developed for melamine detection.•AuNPs was combined with aptamers and MIPs to improve the sensitivity.•This sensor has wider linear range and lower detection limit. An electrochemical aptamer sensor based on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) was developed for highly specific sensing of melamine (MEL), which combines molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) and aptamers. AuNPs were synthesized by simple reduction of sodium citrate and characterized by transmission electron microscopy. The MIP membranes with particular recognition sites were formed by electropolymerization of dopamine (DA) with polythymine (poly T) aptamers as functional monomers and melamine as template molecules. Under optimal experimental conditions, this molecularly imprinted electrochemical aptamer sensor (MIEAS) exhibits a linear relationship between 10−12 M and 10−4 M for detecting MEL with the detection limit of 6.7 × 10−13 M. Moreover, this sensor displays excellent selectivity, reproducibility and stability. The milk samples analysis has confirmed the potential application of this MIEAS to quantitative detection of melamine.