Development of a molecularly imprinted membrane for selective, high-sensitive, and on-site detection of antibiotics in waters and drugs: Application for sulfamethoxazole

Ouarda El Hani; Juan José García-Guzmán; José María Palacios-Santander; Khalid Digua; Aziz Amine; Laura Cubillana-Aguilera

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.141039

Development of a molecularly imprinted membrane for selective, high-sensitive, and on-site detection of antibiotics in waters and drugs: Application for sulfamethoxazole

Chemosphere. 2024 Feb:350:141039. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.141039. Epub 2023 Dec 24.

Authors

Ouarda El Hani¹, Juan José García-Guzmán², José María Palacios-Santander³, Khalid Digua⁴, Aziz Amine⁵, Laura Cubillana-Aguilera²

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Process Engineering and Environment, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Hassan II University of Casablanca, P.A. 149, Mohammedia, Morocco; Department of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Research on Electron Microscopy and Materials (IMEYMAT), Faculty of Sciences, Campus de Excelencia Internacional del Mar (CEIMAR), University of Cadiz, Campus Universitario de Puerto Real, Polígono del Río San Pedro S/N, 11510, Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain.
² Department of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Research on Electron Microscopy and Materials (IMEYMAT), Faculty of Sciences, Campus de Excelencia Internacional del Mar (CEIMAR), University of Cadiz, Campus Universitario de Puerto Real, Polígono del Río San Pedro S/N, 11510, Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain.
³ Department of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Research on Electron Microscopy and Materials (IMEYMAT), Faculty of Sciences, Campus de Excelencia Internacional del Mar (CEIMAR), University of Cadiz, Campus Universitario de Puerto Real, Polígono del Río San Pedro S/N, 11510, Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain. Electronic address: josem.palacios@uca.es.
⁴ Laboratory of Process Engineering and Environment, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Hassan II University of Casablanca, P.A. 149, Mohammedia, Morocco.
⁵ Laboratory of Process Engineering and Environment, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Hassan II University of Casablanca, P.A. 149, Mohammedia, Morocco. Electronic address: aziz.amine@fstm.ac.ma.

PMID: 38147923
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.141039

Abstract

Sulfonamides are among the widespread bacterial antibiotics. Despite this, their quick emergence constitutes a serious problem for ecosystems and human health. Therefore, there is an increased interest in developing relevant detection method for antibiotics in different matrices. In this work, a straightforward, green, and cost-effective protocol was proposed for the preparation of a selective molecularly imprinted membrane (MIM) of sulfamethoxazole (SMX), a commonly used antibiotic. Thus, cellulose acetate was used as the functional polymer, while polyethylene glycol served as a pore-former. The developed MIM was successfully characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The MIM was used as a sensing platform in conjunction with a smartphone for optical readout, enabling on-site, selective, and highly sensitive detection of SMX. In this way, a satisfactory imprinting factor of around 3.6 and a limit of detection of 2 ng mL^-1 were reached after applying response surface methodologies, including Box-Behnken and central composite designs. Besides, MIM demonstrated its applicability for the accurate and selective detection of SMX in river waters, wastewater, and drugs. Additionally, the MIM was shown to be a valuable sorbent in a solid-phase extraction protocol, employing a spin column setup that offered rapid and reproducible results. Furthermore, the developed sensing platform exhibited notable regeneration properties over multiple cycles and long shelf-life in different storage conditions. The newly developed methodology is of crucial importance to overcome the limitations of classical imprinting polymers. Furthermore, the smartphone-based platform was used to surpass the typically expensive and complicated methods of detection.

Keywords: Cellulose acetate; Molecularly imprinted membrane; Response surface methodology; Smartphone detection; Sulfamethoxazole.

MeSH terms

Adsorption
Anti-Bacterial Agents*
Ecosystem
Humans
Molecular Imprinting* / methods
Polymers / chemistry
Solid Phase Extraction / methods
Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
Sulfamethoxazole

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Sulfamethoxazole
Polymers