Morphological and chemical analysis of the molecularly-imprinted polymer-based D-arabinose sensor on a modified electrode with functionalized carbon nanotubes

The development of renewable fuels is driven by different countries due to future shortages of fossil fuels and damage to the environment caused by their use. A promising alternative to replace the growing energy crisis and reduce environmental damage is second generation ethanol, which can be produced from sugarcane-based lignocellulosic biomass, an excellent raw material with high availability and abundance that does not cause competition with energy sources. Second generation production, generally characterized by preprocessing, hydrolysis and fermentation, is not as advanced as first generation production. However, with continuous scientific effort, this change can be altered. A clear understanding of the chemical changes that occur through hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass is critical to process control and optimization. In this sense, the development of graphite and paraffin composite sensors, modified with carbon nanotubes (FMWCNTs) and molecularly printed polymers (MIPs) for the determination of D-arabinose is an excellent option, because these sensors have high selectivity and sensitivity in the analyzes.For this reason, the present work presents a chemical study of the functional groups of the chemical species present on the surfaces of the materials using the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) technique and a morphological analysis by the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) technique.