Molecularly Imprinted Sol‐Gel Sensing Film‐Based Optical Sensor for Determination of Sulfasalazine Antibiotic

In this study, a simplistic optical sensing approach for determination of sulfasalazine (SSZ) antibiotic has been developed by combining molecular imprinting and sol‐gel techniques (MIP‐SG). The sol‐gel solution containing sulfasalazine (target molecule) was deposited as a thin film on the pretreated microscope glass slides to fabricate imprinted optical sensors. The binding properties of the sensor toward sulfasalazine were evaluated by UV‐Vis spectroscopy method. The influence of some experimental parameters affecting on the manufacturing process as well as the response of MIP‐SG sensing film were studied. Under optimal conditions, the UV‐Vis signals of proposed sensor showed a linear relationship with the SSZ concentration in the range from 0.5 to 80.0 μg mL−1 (R2=0.994) and detection limit of 0.26 μg mL−1 with benefits of good reproducibility (RSD=4.12 %) and storage stability. This sensor was successfully used for determination of SSZ in well water, pharmaceutical formulation and human urine samples. A selective and sensitive optical sensor through the combining molecular imprinting and sol‐gel techniques has been developed for sulfasalazine antibiotic which benefits from the simplicity, quick analysis ability and relatively inexpensive apparatus of UV‐Vis spectroscopy method. The presented sensor has long‐term stability, good repeatability, easy to prepare, fairly fast response time, relatively low cost and suitable for SSZ detection in various real samples.