Abstract: The present study aims to develop a selective molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) layer combined with quartz crystal microbalance sensor for the detection of 3-Carene, a significant aroma compound of mango. The proposed sensor is prepared from the co-polymer of methacrylic acid and divinylbenzene and it is imprinted with 3-Carene. The MIP template was synthesized and deposited onto Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) platform by proper functionalizing the gold electrode using 2-propene 1-thiol. The developed MIP material is characterized by fourier transform infra-red, scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope techniques. The sensor offers very good selectivity and sensitivity (1-1000ppm) of 0.11 Hz/ppm to 3-Carene from its structural analogies. The LOD and the LOQ of the sensor are found to be 0.8 ppm and 1.4 ppm, respectively. The performance of the sensor offers satisfactory reproducibility and repeatability to 3-Carene. Moreover, the response of the sensor has been correlated to the standard gas- chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) data to detect 3-Carene in Langda and Chausa mango
Author keywords: Crystals, Electrodes, polymers, Sensitivity, Sensor phenomena and characterization, Temperature sensors, 3-Carene, Molecularly imprinted polymer, gas-chromatography mass spectrometry, mango, Quartz crystal microbalance