Fluorescence Sensing of Chemical Hazardous Factors in Foodstuffs

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, nanosensor technology has experienced extraordinarily rapid development as a result of extensive scientific efforts to achieving improved nanofabrication techniques and arrive at an advanced understanding of nanoscale phenomena. Fluoresence nanomaterials (FLNs), such as semiconductor quantum dots and carbon nanomaterials, have recently gained considerable attention across scientific communities due to their unique combinations of chemical and physical properties. Thanks to intensive research efforts carried out by researchers, FLNs have found their place in a wide range of applications and stand out as novel nanoprobes due to their outstanding performance for the detection of heavy metal ions, additives, and toxic pesticides in food matrixes.

Desirable FLNs for sensing applications can be produced by well-controlled methods to ensure they possess specific functionalities via surface modification and doping with heteroatoms. Such modified FLNs have the potential to sensitively and selectively target specific molecules based on their unique fluorescent and luminescent properties. The potential advances of multidisciplinary scientific efforts offer opportunities to exploit FLNs with desirable sensing selectivity and sensitivity to satisfy the needs of food safety control.

This Special Issue welcomes high-quality research articles and reviews that seek to address recent developments in the preparation, characterization, and application of FLNs as nanoprobes or sensing mechanisms, and the relevant prospects of the opportunities and challenges of both.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• The preparation and characterization of FLNs;
• Methodologies for the separation, purification, and upscaling of FLNs;
• Techniques for the improvement of the sensing properties;
• FLN-based nanohybrids for sensing applications;
• FLN-based nanocomposite films for sensing applications;
• FLNs for sensing applications in foods;
• The prospects for advances, opportunities, and challenges in FLNs-based probes;
• Theoretical investigations of the sensing mechanisms behind FLNs.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Qin Hu
Dr. Tianzhu Guan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• fluorescence spectroscopy
• hazardous chemicals
• rapid detection
• method validation
• food analysis