Molecularly imprinted, ordered mesoporous silica was synthesized using bisphenol A (BPA) as the template and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane modified with hexagonally structured mesoporous silica (SBA-15) as the carrier. Carbon paste sensors were constructed by mixing the molecularly imprinted, ordered mesoporous silica with graphite powder and paraffin oil, and they were found to detect bisphenol A (BPA) with enhanced selectivity due to their ordered mesoporous structure and their successful molecular imprinting. The linear range for the proposed sensor was 1.000 x 10(-7) mol L-1 to 5.000 x 10(-4) mol L-1, and the detection limit was determined to be 3.222 x 10(-8) mol L-1. Overall, the sensor detected the water samples with satisfactory results. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.