Molecularly imprinted polymer based on CdTe@SiO2 quantum dots as a fluorescent sensor for the recognition of norepinephrine.

A novel molecular imprinted sensor based on CdTe@SiO2 quantum dots (QDs) was developed for norepinephrine (NE) recognition. The molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) on the surface of CdTe@SiO2 QDs (CdTe@SiO2@MIP) was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy. The synthesized nanosensor had a distinguished selectivity and high binding affinity to NE. Under optimal conditions, the relative fluorescence intensity of CdTe@SiO2@MIP linearly decreased with increase of the concentration of NE in the range of 0.04-10 μM. The limit of detection was 8 nM (3σ/K). The proposed method was applied to the analysis of NE in rat plasma, and the result obtained by the method was in good agreement with that assayed by the fluorescence derivatization method. The method developed is simple, fast, and can be applied to the determination of NE in biological samples.