Abstract
With characters of low cost, portability, easy disposal, and high accuracy, as well as bulky reduced laboratory equipment, paper-based sensors are getting increasing attention for reliable indoor/outdoor onsite detection with nonexpert operation. They have become powerful analysis tools in trace detection with ultra-low detection limits and extremely high accuracy, resulting in their great popularity in medical detection, environmental inspection, and other applications. Herein, we summarize and generalize the recently reported paper-based sensors based on their application for mechanics, biomolecules, food safety, and environmental inspection. Based on the biological, physical, and chemical analytes-sensitive electrical or optical signals, extensive detections of a large number of factors such as humidity, pressure, nucleic acid, protein, sugar, biomarkers, metal ions, and organic/inorganic chemical substances have been reported via paper-based sensors. Challenges faced by the current paper-based sensors from the fundamental problems and practical applications are subsequently analyzed; thus, the future directions of paper-based sensors are specified for their rapid handheld testing.
Highlights
Indirect sensing is the essential means for humans to study microscopic matters invisible to the naked eye
Based on the conductive network structure formed by carbon nanotubes, the sensor had extremely high sensitivity (87.0%), an extremely low response limit (100%), wide response range (11–95% RH), excellent linearity (R2 = 0.995), good bending and folding durability, and excellent stability
In the past few decades, paper-based sensors have shown their significant ascendancy in biomolecule detection with low cost, good portability, high accuracy, and good reproducibility
Summary
Indirect sensing is the essential means for humans to study microscopic matters invisible to the naked eye. Paper-based sensors have the advantages of a versatile reagent-carrying ability, portability, easy operation, fast response, and low cost This makes them strong candidates for real-time and commercial chemical or biological sensing [3,4]. Recent reports have clarified their practicability in biomarker monitoring, such as the detection of sugar [5], nucleic acids [6], phenols [7], and vitamins [8] They have a comprehensive substance detection range and reliable high accuracy due to versatile reagent carrying, making them the fast-handled ‘hospitals’. Antibody or enzyme-based immunotype methods are developed with a high accuracy and low detection limit [14] Their poor stability results in a short shelf life of a few days, which dramatically limits their practical applications [15]. In the presence of Cu2+ , the fluorescence of the fluorophore P2017 decreased while that of B001 was maintained well, giving a ratio-based fluorescence detection technology
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