Highly selective and sensitive detection of atorvastatin from using a MIP-based electrochemical sensor

Atorvastatin (ATR) is one of the statins that are widely used all around the world. This study presents a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) based electrochemical sensor for the sensitive and selective detection of ATR in binary mixtures and commercial serum samples. The designed sensor was fabricated using a photopolymerization (PP) approach on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) using ATR as the template and acrylamide (ACR) as the functional monomer. The developed ATR/ACR@MIP-GCE sensor was evaluated electrochemically and morphologically using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The indirect measuring method was used with a 5.0 mM [Fe(CN)₆]^3–/4– solution to determine the ATR in the linear range of 1.0–10.0 pM. Moreover, the sensor demonstrated excellent linearity and extremely sensitive quantification (LOQ) limit of detection (LOD) values in both biological media and standard solutions. It also performed well in terms of specificity by effectively differentiating ATR from compounds with similar structures. Excellent repeatability and reproducibility results have confirmed the reliability of the sensor. The selectivity of the ATR/ACR@MIP-GCE sensor for ATR was proven by interference studies on ezetimibe and their binary mixtures.