Functional Conjugated Polymers for Bioimaging and Biosensing

Dear Colleagues,

Conjugated polymers have emerged as a fascinating class of materials because of their attractive optical and electronic properties. Intense synthetic efforts over the years have paved the way for the development of functional conjugated polymers with tunable chemical structures, solubilities, bandgaps, and energy levels toward the desired optical, electronic as well as processing features. In parallel, remarkable advances in the understanding of structure–property relationships have led to significant progress in the employment of these materials as front-runners in several advanced technological applications. Because of the multitude of desirable features—low cost, ease of processing by printing techniques, thin film flexibility and superior optoelectronic properties—these materials have been invaluable in high-performance electronic devices ranging from organic photovoltaics (OPVs), light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), field-effect transistors (OFETs), and photodetectors (OPDs) to (biochemical) sensors and next-generation skin-inspired wearable electronic applications.

The use of conjugated polymers in biosensing applications is very promising as many preferred features of these materials for use in optoelectronic devices are also very relevant and useful in the design and development of biosensors/bioelectronic devices. Apart from their use in optoelectronic devices, these materials are highly promising for bioimaging because of their excellent optical properties and appealing biocompatibility. Fluorescent probes based on conjugated polymers have several salient features that render them ideal for bioimaging. For instance, conjugated polymers with fluorescence in the near infrared offer an interesting optical window for cellular and in vivo bioimaging with low absorption from the background and biological autofluorescence. In general, fluorescent probes in the form of self-assembled structures, nanoparticles, encapsulated moieties, etc., have gained a lot of interest and significant advances have already been made.

As the fields of both biosensing and bioimaging that employ functional conjugated polymers are rapidly advancing, it is our pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and reviews are welcome. The main theme can either be the application part or the conjugated polymer synthesis and characterization part, or (ideally) the manuscript can cover both aspects simultaneously.

Prof. Anitha Ethirajan
Prof. Wouter Maes
Guest Editors

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