Current Trends in Polymer Based Sensors

• Main Authors: Giancarla Alberti, Camilla Zanoni, Vittorio Losi, Lisa Rita Magnaghi, Raffaela Biesuz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
• Series: Chemosensors
• Subjects: polymer-based sensors; natural polymers; synthetic polymers; polymer inclusion membranes; nanocomposite polymeric based materials UV-vis sensors; color analysis
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9040/9/5/108

This review illustrates various types of polymer and nanocomposite polymeric based sensors used in a wide variety of devices. Moreover, it provides an overview of the trends and challenges in sensor research. As fundamental components of new devices, polymers play an important role in sensing applications. Indeed, polymers offer many advantages for sensor technologies: their manufacturing methods are pretty simple, they are relatively low-cost materials, and they can be functionalized and placed on different substrates. Polymers can participate in sensing mechanisms or act as supports for the sensing units. Another good quality of polymer-based materials is that their chemical structure can be modified to enhance their reactivity, biocompatibility, resistance to degradation, and flexibility.