Novel molecularly imprinted polymers on metal–organic frameworks as sensors for the highly selective detection of zearalenone in wheat

The work describes an opto-sensor for the highly sensitive detection of the zearalenone (ZON) in wheat. A molecularly imprinted polymer layer was coated onto the surface of a luminescent metal–organic framework with cyclodo-decanyl-2,4-dihydroxybenzoate (CDHB), an analog of ZON, chosen as the template and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) as the functional monomer. The obtained MOF@MIP (MMIP) was fully characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption–desorption measurements, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Under optimal conditions, the relative fluorescence intensity of MMIP decreased linearly with a concentration of ZON ranging from 0.05–1.0 mg L−1, with a detection limit of 0.018 mg L−1 and a good recovery of 95.53–98.01% (RSD < 4.7%). The sensor was stable and selective. Ultimately, the rapid and accurate detection of zearalenone in wheat was successfully realized.