Advanced Functional Materials for Biosensors and Biomarker Detection
A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomaterials".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: biosensors; surface plasmon resonance; point-of-care
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The rapid evolution of biosensors and biomarker detection technologies is transforming diagnostics, environmental monitoring, food safety, and personalized medicine. The development of advanced functional materials that enable higher sensitivity, selectivity, stability, and integration with modern analytical platforms is a central part to these advancements. This Special Issue of Materials focuses on cutting-edge materials design, fabrication, and application strategies that address current challenges in biosensing and biomarker detection.
We invite original research articles and comprehensive reviews that explore novel functional materials tailored for chemical and biological sensing. We encourage contributions highlighting materials that enable ultra-low detection limits, multiplexed detection, real-time monitoring, and robust performance in complex biological or environmental matrices, with emphasis on material–biomolecule interactions, surface functionalization, and signal amplification mechanisms.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Nanomaterials in Sensing: the use of metal nanoparticles (e.g., Au, Ag), quantum dots, carbon-based nanomaterials (e.g., graphene, carbon nanotubes), and 2D materials to amplify signal transduction and improve the limit of detection.
- Polymer and Composite Materials: development of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), hydrogels, and other stimuli-responsive composites for enhanced selectivity and bio-recognition.
- Interface Engineering: strategies for optimizing the bio-recognition element (e.g., antibodies, aptamers, enzymes) immobilization and stability on the material surface.
- Biomarker Applications: detection of disease-relevant molecules, nucleic acids, proteins, small molecules, and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) with high sensitivity and specificity.
This Special Issue seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of emerging functional materials and to inspire innovative solutions for next-generation biosensors and biomarker detection technologies by bringing together interdisciplinary research at the intersection of materials science, chemistry, biology, and engineering.
Dr. Cristina Polonschii
Dr. Sorin David
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 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.
Keywords
- advanced functional materials
- biosensors
- biomarker detection
- nanomaterials
- surface functionalization
- electrochemical sensing
- optical biosensors
- point-of-care diagnostics
- wearable sensors
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