polymers-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Development and Application of Polymer-Based Materials for Printable Sensors

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Processing and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 April 2024) | Viewed by 8410

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), 4715-330 Braga, Portugal
Interests: sensor instrumentation; sensor data communication; signal treatment and filtering; printed sensor design; 3D printing of smart materials and electronics; electroactive ink printing optimization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
BCMaterials, Bld. Martina Casiano, 3rd. Floor, UPV/EHU Science Park, Barrio Sarriena s/n, 48940 Leioa, Spain
Interests: printed electronics; flexible and organic electronics; conducting polymers; printing technologies; photophysics and photonics; ink formulation; functional materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Center of Physics, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, Braga 4710-057, Portugal
Interests: polymer composites; additive manufacturing; functional materials; sensors and actuators; energy harvesting; stretchable sensors; natural polymers; prototypes devices
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The advancements in polymer science are key to develop essential components for printed/organic electronics, which is already classified as one of the fourteen technology categories ‘Component/Subsystem Technologies’ within the electronics industry. Furthermore, the market is expected to grow aggressively with the increasing number of potential applications ensuring reliability and mass production reproducibility.

Thereby, this Special Issue is open to contributions on the applicability of polymers as inks and substrates, as well as processing of polymers and sensor design, focusing on the development of sensing materials and systems.

Theoretical and experimental works relying on polymeric-based materials, which result in physical or chemical sensing such as thermal, magnetic, pressure/force, radiation, humidity or pH, among others, are welcome.

Thus, we invite authors to contribute with original research and article reviews, covering recent progress in polymeric-based sensors and respective applications. Potential topics include but are not limited to:

  1. Synthesis of inks and electroactive polymeric materials;
  2. Flexible sensor design methods and application assembly;
  3. Hybrid solutions between printed sensors and conventional electronics;
  4. Theoretical and experimental studies concerning sensor matrix crosstalk and mitigation methods;
  5. Industrial, agricultural, and medical application issues, which flexible sensors/electronics could solve.

Dr. Nelson Castro
Dr. Nikola Perinka
Dr. Pedro Costa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Polymers 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 2700 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

  • polymer ink formulation
  • printable sensor design
  • flexible sensor applications
  • hybrid sensor assemblies
  • printed multisensing
  • sensor coatings
  • polymeric sensor grids

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (5 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 3277 KiB  
Article
Laser-Induced Electrochemical Biosensor Modified with Graphene-Based Ink for Label-Free Detection of Alpha-Fetoprotein and 17β-Estradiol
by Ridma Tabassum, Pritu Parna Sarkar, Ahmed Hasnain Jalal, Ali Ashraf and Nazmul Islam
Polymers 2024, 16(14), 2069; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16142069 - 19 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1101
Abstract
In this research, a novel electrochemical biosensor is proposed based on inducing graphene formation on polyimide substrate via laser engraving. Graphene polyaniline (G-PANI) conductive ink was synthesized by planetary mixing and applied to the working zone of the developed sensor to effectively enhance [...] Read more.
In this research, a novel electrochemical biosensor is proposed based on inducing graphene formation on polyimide substrate via laser engraving. Graphene polyaniline (G-PANI) conductive ink was synthesized by planetary mixing and applied to the working zone of the developed sensor to effectively enhance the electrical signals. The laser-induced graphene (LIG) sensor was used to detect alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and 17β-Estradiol (E2) in the phosphate buffer saline (PBS) buffer and human serum. The electrochemical performance of the biosensor in determining these biomarkers was investigated by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and chronoamperometry (CA). In a buffer environment, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and 17β-Estradiol detection range were 4–400 ng/mL and 20–400 pg/mL respectively. The experimental results showed a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.15 ng/mL and 0.96 pg/mL for AFP and estrogen, respectively, with an excellent linear range (R2 = 0.98 and 0.99). In addition, the designed sensor was able to detect these two types of biomarkers in human serum successfully. The proposed sensor exhibited excellent reproducibility, repeatability, and good stability (relative standard deviation, RSD = 0.96%, 1.12%, 2.92%, respectively). The electrochemical biosensor proposed herein is easy to prepare and can be successfully used for low-cost, rapid detection of AFP and E2. This approach provides a promising platform for clinical detection and is advantageous to healthcare applications. Full article
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

10 pages, 3099 KiB  
Article
Flexible Sensor Film Based on Rod-Shaped SWCNT-Polypyrrole Nanocomposite for Acetone Gas Detection
by Hyo-Kyung Kang, Jun-Ho Byeon, Hyun-Jun Hwang, Yoon Hee Jang and Jin-Yeol Kim
Polymers 2023, 15(16), 3416; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15163416 - 16 Aug 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1214
Abstract
A nanocomposite rod-shaped structure with a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) embedded in polypyrrole (PPy) doped with nonafluorobutanesulfonic acid (C4F), SWCNT/C4F-PPy, was synthesized using emulsion polymerization. The hybrid ink was then directly coated on a polyimide film interdigitated with the Cu/Ni/Au electrodes via a [...] Read more.
A nanocomposite rod-shaped structure with a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) embedded in polypyrrole (PPy) doped with nonafluorobutanesulfonic acid (C4F), SWCNT/C4F-PPy, was synthesized using emulsion polymerization. The hybrid ink was then directly coated on a polyimide film interdigitated with the Cu/Ni/Au electrodes via a screen-printing technique to create a flexible film sensor. The sensor film showed a response of 1.72% at 25 °C/atmospheric pressure when acetone gas of 5 ppm was injected, which corresponds to almost 95% compared to the Si wafer-based array interdigitated with the Au electrode. Additionally, C4F was used as a hydrophobic dopant of PPy to improve the stability of humidity and to produce a highly sensitive film-type gas sensor that provides stable detection even in humid conditions. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 4283 KiB  
Article
Designing of Hollow Core Grapefruit Fiber Using Cyclo Olefin Polymer for the Detection of Fuel Adulteration in Terahertz Region
by Sakawat Hossain, Md. Aslam Mollah, Md. Kamal Hosain, Md. Shofiqul Islam and Abdulhameed Fouad Alkhateeb
Polymers 2023, 15(1), 151; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15010151 - 29 Dec 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1711
Abstract
A grapefruit-shape hollow-core liquid infiltrated photonic crystal fiber (LI-PCF) is proposed and evaluated to identify the percentage of kerosene in adulterated petrol. The proposed hollow-fiber sensor is designed with Cyclo Olefin Polymer (Zeonex) and likely to be filled with different samples of petrol [...] Read more.
A grapefruit-shape hollow-core liquid infiltrated photonic crystal fiber (LI-PCF) is proposed and evaluated to identify the percentage of kerosene in adulterated petrol. The proposed hollow-fiber sensor is designed with Cyclo Olefin Polymer (Zeonex) and likely to be filled with different samples of petrol which is adulated by the kerosene up to 100%. Considering the electromagnetic radiation in THz band, the sensing properties are thoroughly investigated by adopting finite element method (FEM) based COMSOL Multiphysics software. However, the proposed sensor offers a very high relative sensitivity (RS) of 97.27% and confinement loss (CL) less than 10−10 dB/m, and total loss under 0.07 dB/cm, at 2 THz operating frequency. Besides that, the sensor also possesses a low effective material loss (EML), high numerical aperture (NA), and large Marcuse spot size (MSS). The sensor structure is fabrication feasible through existing fabrication methodologies consequently making this petrol adulteration sensor a propitious aspirant for real-life applications of petrol adulteration measurements in commercial and industrial sensing. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 2538 KiB  
Article
Wave Dispersion Behaviors of Multi-Scale CNT/Glass Fiber/Polymer Nanocomposite Laminated Plates
by Farzad Ebrahimi, Alireza Enferadi and Ali Dabbagh
Polymers 2022, 14(24), 5448; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14245448 - 13 Dec 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1905
Abstract
In this paper, wave propagation in multi-scale hybrid glass fiber (GF)/carbon nanotube (CNT)/polymer nanocomposite plates is studied for the first time by means of refined higher-order plate theory. The hybrid nanocomposite consists of CNTs and glass fibers (GF) as reinforcing components distributed within [...] Read more.
In this paper, wave propagation in multi-scale hybrid glass fiber (GF)/carbon nanotube (CNT)/polymer nanocomposite plates is studied for the first time by means of refined higher-order plate theory. The hybrid nanocomposite consists of CNTs and glass fibers (GF) as reinforcing components distributed within a polymeric matrix. A hierarchical micromechanical approach is used to predict the effective mechanical properties of the hybrid nanocomposite, including the three-dimensional (3D) Mori-Tanaka method and the rule of mixture. Moreover, a refined-type higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT) is implemented to take into account the influence of the shear deformation on the motion equations of the system. Then, the governing equations are achieved on the basis of the energy-based Hamilton’s principle. Finally, the derived equations will be solved analytically for the purpose of extracting the natural frequency of the continuous system. A set of numerical examples are provided to cover the effects of various parameters on the wave dispersion characteristics of the plate. It can be declared that the hybrid nanocomposite system can achieve higher wave frequencies compared with other types of composite structures. Additionally, it is found that the selection of the lay-ups and length-to-diameter ratio plays a significant role in the determination of the sandwich plate’s acoustic response. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 11924 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Smart Sensor Tag Sensing Performance-Based on Modified Plasma-Assisted Electrochemical Exfoliated Graphite Nanosheet
by Tzu-Hsuan Lin, Alan Putranto, Yan-Ting Wang, Qing-Hao Yang, Ren-Jang Wu, Chia-Hao Liu, Che-Kuan Lin and Murthy Chavali
Polymers 2022, 14(23), 5067; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14235067 - 22 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1391
Abstract
Water that penetrates through cracks in concrete can corrode steel bars. There is a need for reliable and practical seepage sensing technology to prevent failure and determine the necessary maintenance for a concrete structure. Therefore, we propose a modified plasma-assisted electrochemical exfoliated graphite [...] Read more.
Water that penetrates through cracks in concrete can corrode steel bars. There is a need for reliable and practical seepage sensing technology to prevent failure and determine the necessary maintenance for a concrete structure. Therefore, we propose a modified plasma-assisted electrochemical exfoliated graphite (MPGE) nanosheet smart tag. We conducted a comparative study of standard and modified RFID smart tags with sensor technology for seepage detection in concrete. The performance of both smart tags was tested and verified for seepage sensing in concrete, characterized by sensor code and frequency values. Seepage was simulated by cracking the concrete samples, immersing them for a designated time, and repeating the immersing phase with increasing durations. The test showed that the modified smart tag with 3% MPGE and an additional crosslinking agent provided the best sensitivity compared with the other nanosheet compositions. The presence of 3D segregated structures on the smart tag’s sensing area successfully enhanced the sensitivity performance of seepage detection in concrete structures and is expected to benefit structural health monitoring as a novel non-destructive test method. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop