Biodegradable sensor platforms

Abstract

Recent advances in materials chemistry and fabrication methods have led to the advent of an eco-friendly class of sensors utilizing biodegradable and sustainable materials to minimize electronic waste and hazardous by-products. Biodegradable sensors can be disintegrated and dissolved in the surrounding environment, remaining minimal trace after a prescribed functional lifetime due to their transient nature. This feature enables them to be widely used in numerous fields, ranging from medical diagnostics and point-of-care to environmental monitoring and food/agricultural analysis. The application of biodegradable materials has been extensively investigated in various sensor components, resulting in several unique features. In the first part, the overview of the recent developments in biodegradable sensor platforms will be introduced, followed by widely used biodegradable materials for building sensors. The recent progress and challenges in fabricating biodegradable sensors are reviewed in the second part. Finally, a range of applications enabled by the biodegradable sensors are represented. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.