Abstract
Surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators represent some of the most prominent acoustic devices for chemical sensing applications. As their frequency ranges from several hundred MHz to GHz, therefore they can record remarkably diminutive frequency shifts resulting from exceptionally small mass loadings. Their miniaturized design, high thermal stability and possibility of wireless integration make these devices highly competitive. Owing to these special characteristics, they are widely accepted as smart transducers that can be combined with a variety of recognition layers based on host-guest interactions, metal oxide coatings, carbon nanotubes, graphene sheets, functional polymers and biological receptors. As a result of this, there is a broad spectrum of SAW sensors, i.e., having sensing applications ranging from small gas molecules to large bio-analytes or even whole cell structures. This review shall cover from the fundamentals to modern design developments in SAW devices with respect to interfacial receptor coatings for exemplary sensor applications. The related problems and their possible solutions shall also be covered, with a focus on emerging trends and future opportunities for making SAW as established sensing technology.
Highlights
Modern chemical sensor designs focus on fast and highly responsive transducer devices that can readily transform chemical responses into measurable electronic signals
Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices are workable at temperature as high as 600 ◦ C as reported in [37], with a chemical recognition interface, they can work at room temperature for chemical sensor applications
There is a broad range of receptor materials that can be integrated with SAW as chemical recognition interfaces [50,51,52] for sensing
Summary
Modern chemical sensor designs focus on fast and highly responsive transducer devices that can readily transform chemical responses into measurable electronic signals. SAW resonators have been found to be highly valuable in diverse fields, including frequency filters for electronic devices including wireless communication tools and especially for developing smart miniaturized sensors Their exceptionally high frequency among acoustic devices, small size, faster response, high ruggedness, and integration ability with different receptor materials are some of the highlighted features of SAW devices. These characteristics make them highly suitable in the sensing field for a variety of targets such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), toxic gases, chemical warfare agents, explosives, and bio-analytes including proteins, yeast cells for biotechnological process monitoring and cancer cells for clinical diagnostics.
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