Due to their unique optical properties, narrow size distributions, and good biological affinity, gold nanoparticles have been widely applied in sensing analysis, catalytic, environmental monitoring, and disease therapy. The color of a gold nanoparticle solution and its maximum characteristic absorption wavelength will change with the particle size and inter-particle spacing. These properties are often used in the detection of hazardous chemicals, such as pesticide residues, heavy metals, banned additives, and biotoxins, in food. Because the gold nanoparticles-colorimetric sensing strategy is simple, quick, and sensitive, this method has extensive applications in real-time on-site monitoring and rapid testing of food quality and safety. Herein, we review the preparation methods, functional modification, photochemical properties, and applications of gold nanoparticle sensors in rapid testing. In addition, we elaborate on the colorimetric sensing mechanisms. Finally, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of colorimetric sensors based on gold nanoparticles, and directions for future development.

Molecular imprinting technology (MIT), also known as molecular template technology, is a new technology involving material chemistry, polymer chemistry, biochemistry, and other multi-disciplinary approaches. This technology is used to realize the unique recognition ability of three-dimensional crosslinked polymers, called the molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). MIPs demonstrate a wide range of applicability, good plasticity, stability, and high selectivity, and their internal recognition sites can be selectively combined with template molecules to achieve selective recognition. A molecularly imprinted fluorescence sensor (MIFs) incorporates fluorescent materials (fluorescein or fluorescent nanoparticles) into a molecularly imprinted polymer synthesis system and transforms the binding sites between target molecules and molecularly imprinted materials into readable fluorescence signals. This sensor demonstrates the advantages of high sensitivity and selectivity of fluorescence detection. Molecularly imprinted materials demonstrate considerable research significance and broad application prospects. They are a research hotspot in the field of food and environment safety sensing analysis. In this study, the progress in the construction and application of MIFs was reviewed with emphasis on the preparation principle, detection methods, and molecular recognition mechanism. The applications of MIFs in food and environment safety detection in recent years were summarized, and the research trends and development prospects of MIFs were discussed.

A simple, sensitive and effective magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) technique was developed for the extraction of pyrethroid pesticides from environmental water samples, followed by gas chromatography tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometry determination. An adsorbent of magnetic zeolitic imidazolate framework-8@deep eutectic solvent (M-ZIF-8@DES) was prepared using deep eutectic solvent coated on the surface of M-ZIF-8. The features of M-ZIF-8@DES were confirmed by material characterizations, and the results indicated that M-ZIF-8@DES has a good magnetism (61.3 emu g⁻¹), a decent surface area (96.83 m² g⁻¹) and pore volume (0.292 mL g⁻¹). Single factor experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of different conditions on the performance of MSPE. Under the optimal conditions, the developed method performs good linearity (R² ≥ 0.9916) in the concentration range of 1–500 μg L⁻¹. The limits of detection were in the range of 0.05–0.21 μg L⁻¹ (signal/noise = 3/1). The intraday relative standard deviation (RSD) and interday RSD were less than 9.40%. Finally, the proposed technique was applied for the determination of pyrethroid pesticides in environmental water samples. This work shows the potential of DES-modified metal-organic frameworks for different sample pretreatment techniques.

Magnetic solid-phase extraction is an effective and convenient sample pretreatment technique that has received considerable interest in recent years. A lot of research indicated that magnetic nanocarbon-material-based composites have good application prospects as adsorbents for magnetic solid-phase extraction of pesticides. Herein, a novel zeolitic imidazolate framework based on magnetic multiwalled carbon nanotubes (M-M-ZIF-67) has been prepared as an adsorbent for magnetic solid-phase extraction of nine organochlorine pesticides from agricultural irrigation water samples. The obtained M-M-ZIF-67 material possessed porous surfaces and super-paramagnetism due to the utilization of magnetic multiwalled carbon nanotubes as the magnetic kernel and support. To evaluate the extraction performance of the M-M-ZIF-67, the main parameters that affected the extraction efficiency were researched. Under the optimal conditions, a good linearity for the nine organochlorine pesticides was achieved with the determination coefficients (R²) higher than 0.9916. The limits of detection (signal/noise = 3:1) were in the range 0.07–1.03 µg L⁻¹. The recoveries of all analytes for the method at spiked levels of 10 and 100 µg L⁻¹ were 74.9–116.3% and 75.1–112.7%, respectively. The developed M-M-ZIF-67 based magnetic solid-phase extraction method has a potential application prospect for the monitoring of trace level of organochlorine pesticides in environmental water samples.

Imidacloprid is one of the most commonly used insecticides for managing pests, thus, improving the quality and yield of vegetables. The abuse/misuse of imidacloprid contaminates the environment and threatens human health. To reduce the risk, a colorimetric enzyme-linked immunoassay assay (Co-ELISA) and chemiluminescence enzyme-linked immunoassay assay (Cl-ELISA) were established to detect imidacloprid residues in vegetables. The linear range of Co-ELISA ranged between 1.56 μg/L and 200 μg/L with a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.56 μg/L. The values for Cl-ELISA were 0.19 μg/L to 25 μg/L with an LOD of 0.19 μg/L, which are lower than those of Co-ELISA. Fortifying Chinese cabbage, cucumber, and zucchini with imidacloprid at 10, 50, and 100 μg/L yielded recoveries between 81.7 and 117.6% for Co-ELISA and at 5, 10, and 20 µg/L yielded recoveries range from 69.7 to 120.6% for Cl-ELISA. These results indicate that Cl-ELISA has a high sensitivity and a rapid detection time, saving cost (antigen and antibody concentrations) and serving as a more efficient model for the rapid detection of imidacloprid residue.