The selective and sensitive detection of rare earth elements is thought to be difficult because the concentration of those elements in the sample is commonly at a low level and they normally have severe mutual interference which is caused by homologous chemical properties. In this study, a novel molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) sensor was fabricated for highly sensitive and selective determination of ultra-trace Tb³⁺. The Tb³⁺-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid complex (Tb-EDTA) as the template molecule was incorporated into mono-6-mercapto-β-cyclodextrin (mono-6-SH-β-CD) to form a Russian Matryoshka (RM)-structured molecule (CD/Tb-EDTA). Titanium isopropoxide was utilized in vapor sol–gel polymerization to construct MIP membrane. Moreover, the selectivity of the RM MIP sensor was remarkably enhanced by the “triple-selectivity” recognition of EDTA-to-Tb³⁺, β-CD-to-(Tb-EDTA), and 3D cavity-to-(CD/Tb-EDTA), while the sensitivity of the MIP sensor was significantly improved by ECL signal enhancement based on double amplification, in other words, the electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (ECL-RET) between the ECL donor of CD/Tb-EDTA and the ECL acceptor of Ru(bpy)₃²⁺, and the ECL enhancement by the co-reactant of CD/Tb-EDTA on Ru(bpy)₃Cl₂. When the imprinted cavities were occupied by Tb-EDTA during rebinding, the host-guest inclusion structured complex was formed and the ECL intensities produced by the Ru(bpy)₃Cl₂ ECL system increased with increasing concentration of Tb-EDTA. The proposed sensor was used for quantitative analysis of Tb³⁺ with concentrations ranging from 8.00 × 10^–13 mol/L to 4.00 × 10^–9 mol/L and successfully applied to detect Tb³⁺ in seawater samples. The detection limit of the sensor was found to be 3.90 × 10^–13 mol/L (DL = 3δ_b/K), which is lower than previously reported values. Thus, the fabricated sensor is feasible for practical applications.

人们认为很难对稀土元素进行选择性和灵敏的检测，因为样品中这些元素的浓度通常处于较低水平，并且它们通常具有严重的相互干扰，这是由同源化学特性引起的。在这项研究中，一种新型的分子印迹聚合物（MIP）传感器可用于高灵敏度和选择性测定超痕量Tb ³⁺。Tb ³⁺-乙二胺四乙酸复合物（Tb-EDTA）作为模板分子被掺入单-6-巯基-β-环糊精（单-6-SH-β-CD）中以形成俄罗斯套娃（RM）结构的分子（CD / Tb-EDTA）。异丙醇钛用于气相溶胶-凝胶聚合反应中，以构建MIP膜。此外，通过“三重选择性”识别EDTA-Tb ^{3 +}，β-CD-（Tb-EDTA）和3D腔-（CD / Tb-EDTA），而基于双倍放大的ECL信号增强显着提高了MIP传感器的灵敏度，换句话说，CD / Tb-EDTA的ECL供体与C / Tb-EDTA之间的电化学发光共振能量转移（ECL-RET） Ru（bpy）₃ ^2+的ECL受体，以及CD / Tb-EDTA的共反应物对Ru（bpy）₃ Cl ₂的ECL增强作用。当在重新结合过程中Tb-EDTA占据印迹腔时，形成了宿主-客体包裹结构复合物，Ru（bpy）₃ Cl ₂ ECL系统产生的ECL强度随着Tb-EDTA浓度的增加而增加。所建议的传感器用于定量分析Tb ³⁺，浓度范围为8.00×10 ^–13 mol / L至4.00×10 ^–9 mol / L，并成功地用于检测海水样品中的Tb ³⁺。传感器的检测极限被发现是3.90×10 ^-13 mol / L的（DL =3δ _b/ K），低于以前报告的值。因此，所制造的传感器对于实际应用是可行的。