Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have proven useful as receptor materials in chemical sensing and have been reported for a wide range of applications. Based on their simplicity and stability compared to other receptor types, they bear huge application potential related to ongoing digitalization. This is the case especially for conductive molecularly imprinted polymers (cMIPs), which allow easy connection to commercially available sensing platforms; thus, they do not require complex measuring setups. This review provides an overview of the different synthetic approaches toward cMIPs and the obtained limit of detections (LODs) with different transducing systems. In addition, it presents and discusses their use in different application areas to provide a detailed overview of the challenges and possibilities related to cMIP-based sensing systems.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE) contamination is commonly found on human skin and medical devices. Herein, we present a sensor utilizing molecularly imprinted polymer nanobodies (nanoMIP) for recognition and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to detect S. epidermidis. Sensor manufacturing involves synthesizing nanoMIP via solid-phase synthesis using whole bacteria as templates. Screen-printed gold electrode (AuSPE)-modified 16-mercaptohexadecanoic acid (MHDA) served to immobilize the nanoMIPs on the sensor surface through an amide bond, with the remaining functional groups blocked by ethanolamine (ETA). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis of the modified AuSPE surface reveals immobilized spherical nanoMIP particles of 114–120 nm diameter, while atomic force microscope (AFM) analysis showed increased roughness and height compared to bare AuSPE. The sensor is selective for S. epidermidis, with a remarkable detection limit of 1 CFU/mL. This research demonstrates that the developed nanoMIP-based sensor effectively detects S. epidermidis. Further research will focus on developing protocols to integrate the nanoMIP-based EIS sensor into medical and industrial applications, ultimately contributing to improved safety for both humans and animals in the future.

We synthesized molecularly imprinted polymers for the templates heptanal and 2-propanol. Blends of the polymers with the conductive polymer P3HT proved suitable as receptor layers on both QCM and chemiresistors. Both types of sensors provide concentration dependent signals for the respective analyte. In comparison the QCMs can detect lower concentrations than the chemiresistor.