(Bio)chemical sensors based on conjugated polymers - Principles, technologies and applications

Since the invention of the glass electrode in 1906, chemical and biological sensors have played a central role in many scientific and industrial fields. They enable rapid, selective, and sensitive detection of a wide range of analytes.

Among the materials used to design these sensors, conjugated polymers are becoming increasingly popular due to their unique electronic and optical properties, combined with their high chemical versatility. Initially developed for their conductive properties, these polymers have quickly established themselves as the materials of choice for manufacturing sensitive layers in electrochemical and optical sensors, thanks to their compatibility with simple deposition techniques, their ability to be functionalized, and their capacity to translate molecular events into measurable signals.

This article presents conjugated polymers, their properties, and the deposition techniques used to manufacture sensitive films (§ 1 ), before describing the operating principles of (bio)chemical sensors using these materials (§ 2 ).

He then details the detection mechanisms (variations in conductivity, potential, current, or optical responses induced by the analyte/polymer interaction) chosen to detect the presence of a target molecule in a liquid or gaseous medium, and demonstrates the importance of the choice of sensitive layers (§ 3