Abstract Salicylic acid (SA) is the active agent in a great many analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs. Its abuse would result in side effects to the health of human beings. Developing a simple and effective method for real-time tracking and monitoring of SA is necessary. In this work, a novel electrochemical sensor based on the molecularly imprinted polymers functionalized TiO2 nanorod arrays modified fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass electrode (MIPs/TiO2 NRAs@FTO) was fabricated for the detection of salicylic acid (SA). TiO2 NRAs were directly grown on FTO by a simple hydrothermal method. SA was imprinted on TiO2 NRAs@FTO through a facile UV polymerization process. The nanorods structure of TiO2 provided a high specific surface area for SA imprinting, raising the number of imprinted sites, minimizing diffusion limitations, improving the internal mass transport, enhancing accessibility of the active sites and consequently boosting the sensitivity and binding capacity of the sensor. Furthermore, TiO2 could act as a photosensitizer in the presence of AIBN initiator to promote the formation of MIPs via a simple photo-polymerization process. The electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD). Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to demonstrate the electrochemical sensor construction process. The differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) signal of the MIPs accumulated SA exhibited the linearity to its concentration ranging from 1.0 × 10−7 to 5.0 × 10−5 M under the optimized conditions. The detection limit was down to 3.9 × 10−8 M based on S/N = 3. This sensor has been applied for the detection of SA in the Aspirin tablet successfully. The results showed that this MIPs/TiO2 NRAs@FTO electrochemical sensor could be applied in medical field simply with low-cost. This work may provide new insights into the design and fabrication of a new platform for sensing applications.

中文翻译：

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用于水杨酸识别和检测的分子印迹聚合物功能化的原位生长 TiO2 纳米棒阵列

摘要 水杨酸（SA）是许多镇痛药和抗炎药的活性成分。它的滥用会对人类健康产生副作用。开发一种简单有效的方法来实时跟踪和监控 SA 是必要的。在这项工作中，基于分子印迹聚合物功能化的 TiO2 纳米棒阵列修饰的掺氟氧化锡 (FTO) 玻璃电极 (MIPs/TiO2 NRAs@FTO) 制造了一种新型电化学传感器，用于检测水杨酸 (SA)。通过简单的水热法在 FTO 上直接生长 TiO2 NRA。SA通过简单的UV聚合过程印在TiO2 NRAs@FTO上。TiO2 的纳米棒结构为 SA 印迹提供了高比表面积，增加了印迹位点的数量，最大限度地减少了扩散限制，改善内部质量传输，增强活性位点的可及性，从而提高传感器的灵敏度和结合能力。此外，TiO2 可以在 AIBN 引发剂的存在下充当光敏剂，通过简单的光聚合过程促进 MIP 的形成。通过扫描电子显微镜 (SEM) 和 X 射线衍射光谱 (XRD) 对电极进行表征。循环伏安法 (CV) 和电化学阻抗谱 (EIS) 用于演示电化学传感器的构建过程。在优化条件下，MIPs 积累的 SA 的差分脉冲伏安 (DPV) 信号表现出与其浓度范围从 1.0 × 10-7 到 5.0 × 10-5 M 的线性。基于 S/N = 3，检测限降至 3.9 × 10−8 M。该传感器已成功应用于阿司匹林片中SA的检测。结果表明，该MIPs/TiO2 NRAs@FTO电化学传感器可以简单且低成本地应用于医疗领域。这项工作可能会为传感应用的新平台的设计和制造提供新的见解。