Quantifying Interferent Effects on Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Sensors for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are emerging as harmful environmental micropollutants. Generally, PFAS species are quantified by mass spectrometry, for which a collected sample is taken to a centralized facility. Robust techniques to quantify PFAS in the field are necessary to diagnose environmental contamination at the earliest onset of pollution. Here, we developed a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) electrode for the detection of perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and explored the MIP surface and the effects of interfering molecules. MIPs were formed by the anodic deposition of o-phenylenediamine (o-PD) in the presence of PFOS template molecules on a glassy carbon macroelectrode. The performance of the resulting MIP electrode was evaluated by the current obtained from the oxidation of ferrocene carboxylic acid as the electrochemical probe. The MIP electrode was able to detect PFOS with a detection limit of 0.05 nM, which is lower than the health advisory limit of 0.14 nM reported by the U.S. EPA. To better understand PFOS association into the MIP, a Langmuir binding model was developed based on the changes in electrochemical responses of the MIP. Fitting the model to the experimental data gave an association constant (KA) of 4.95 × 10¹² over a PFOS concentration range of 0 to 0.05 nM. The binding isotherm of other commonly found substances in contaminated water sources such as chloride, humic acid, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorobutanesulfonate (PFBS) was also investigated. In the case of chloride and humic acid, the calculated KA values of 9.05 × 10⁷ and 6.01 × 10⁵, respectively, indicate relatively weak adsorption of these species on the MIP. However, PFOA, which is the carboxylate analog of PFOS, revealed a very close KA value (3.41 × 10¹²) to PFOS. A greater KA value (1.43 × 10¹³) was obtained for PFBS, which possesses the same functional group and a smaller molecular size compared to PFOS. The presented platform emphasizes the necessity to develop new strategies to make MIP sensors more specific if practical applications are to be pursued.