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Printing Methodologies for Sensors: Towards Bespoke Devices for Analysis
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Printing Methodologies for Sensors: Towards Bespoke Devices for Analysis

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Electronic Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 March 2027 | Viewed by 814

Editors

Dr. Giuseppe Arrabito

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Physical and Chemical Department, University of Palermo, Viale Delle Scienze, Ed. 17, 90100 Palermo, Italy
Interests: molecular printing; 3D printing; dip pen nanolithography; atomic force microscopy; microfluidics; nanowires; fluorescence lifetime; nanomaterials/DNA/aptamer-based sensor; POC devices; DNA/aptamer; enzymes; biosensor design; medical applications; food and environmental applications
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Giorgia Puleo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Physical and Chemical Department, University of Palermo, Viale Delle Scienze, Ed. 17, 90100 Palermo, Italy
Interests: optical sensors; fluorescence microscopy
Dr. Silvia Orecchio

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Physical and Chemical Department, University of Palermo, Viale Delle Scienze, Ed. 17, 90100 Palermo, Italy
Interests: environmental degradation; metals; contamination; voltammetry; sustainable solutions; materials
Dr. Dario Savoca

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
2. National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), Piazza Marina 61, 90133 Palermo, Italy
Interests: environmental pollution; persisten organic pollutants; endocrine active substances; emerging pollutant; trace elements; contaminant fate and exposure effects; bioaccumulation; biodistribution; environmental toxicology; environmental monitoring; bioremediation; extraction and analysis of pollutants; risk assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recently, we have witnessed the extraordinary development of printing methodologies as a formidable approach for reconfigurable-sensor realization. Unlike conventional lab equipment, they can be miniaturized, made portable and tailored for specific functions. Printing allows for precise, additive deposition of materials bearing functional properties (conductive inks, semiconductors) onto substrates of different types (e.g., glass, plastic, paper), opening up unprecedented approaches in analytical devices.

This Special Issue therefore aims to combine research and review articles on the most advanced printing methodologies for the realization of sensors, highlighting the challenges and the future developments. We welcome contributions focusing on innovative printing approaches that combine different functional sensing materials, evaluating the most relevant analytical features of the designed platforms. Special attention will be given to submissions explicitly mentioning the complete fabrication of bespoke sensors that can continuously monitor analytes in complex or harsh environments, where conventional bench-based analytical approaches are not successful.

Potential topics of the Special issue include but are not limited to:

  • Materials integration
  • Screen Printing
  • Inkjet Printing
  • Gravure Printing
  • 3D Printing (Additive Manufacturing)
  • Sensor electronics
  • Wearable devices
  • Electrochemical sensors
  • Optical sensors
  • Piezoresistive/piezoelectric sensors

Dr. Giuseppe Arrabito
Dr. Giorgia Puleo
Dr. Silvia Orecchio
Dr. Dario Savoca
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors 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 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

  • materials integration
  • screen printing
  • inkjet printing
  • gravure printing
  • 3D printing (additive manufacturing)
  • sensor electronics
  • wearable devices
  • electrochemical sensors
  • optical sensors
  • piezoresistive/piezoelectric sensors

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

33 pages, 4033 KB  
Article
Additively Manufactured Ring-Type Thermal Sensor for In-Pipe Flow Monitoring in a Marine Engineering Context: Design Evolution and Electrothermal Characterisation
by Dimitrios Nikolaos Pagonis, Christos Liosis, Antonis Vailas, Dimitris Zagklaras, Sotiria Dimitrellou and Eleni Strantzali
Sensors 2026, 26(14), 4586; https://doi.org/10.3390/s26144586 - 20 Jul 2026
Viewed by 133
Abstract
This work presents the design evolution, fabrication, and characterisation of an additively manufactured ring-type thermal airflow sensor for in-pipe flow monitoring, developed employing exclusively Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) additive manufacturing technology and a commercially available Carbon Nanotube (CNT)-enriched Biopolymer Polylactic Acid (PLA) composite [...] Read more.
This work presents the design evolution, fabrication, and characterisation of an additively manufactured ring-type thermal airflow sensor for in-pipe flow monitoring, developed employing exclusively Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) additive manufacturing technology and a commercially available Carbon Nanotube (CNT)-enriched Biopolymer Polylactic Acid (PLA) composite filament. The design evolution proceeds through three progressive stages. In the first stage, a flat heater element is characterised through Constant-Current (CC) Joule heating experiments in order to derive the corresponding Temperature Coefficient of Resistance (TCR) and Thermal Resistance from the obtained experimental data. Consequently, a Finite Element Method (FEM) model implemented in COMSOL Multiphysics® and calibrated with the extracted material parameters validates the experimental temperature–power relationship and predicts the convective cooling behaviour at various airflow velocities. In the second stage, the geometry is optimised by introducing a conductive trace with a reduced-cross-section central region; as a result, an equivalent thermal localisation is achieved at approximately 26% lower supplied power with respect to the initial heating element, enabled by the design freedom inherent in the FDM process. We should note that the specific sensing geometry can also be directly embedded into any 3D-printed structural component (e.g., a bracket or housing), enabling simultaneous local thermal heating and/or thermal monitoring together with structural functionality within a single printed part. In the third and final stage—the target device—a fully monolithic ring-type airflow sensor is directly integrated into a 3D-printed pipe segment during the printing process. Under constant-current excitation at 40 mA, the device exhibits a monotonically decreasing resistance with increasing airflow (ΔR ≈ 117 Ω over 0–4 m/s) due to convective cooling, while in a single flow-interruption cycle, approximately 79% of the flow-induced resistance change was recovered upon flow removal, with a residual offset of approximately 3% of the heated baseline. A coupled electrothermal FEM model of the device further supports the experimental response by comparing the simulated temperature rise with the values inferred from resistance measurements, while also clarifying the role of the effective internal convective cooling conditions imposed by the pipe geometry. Key features of the proposed device are low raw-consumables cost, fast on-site manufacturing employing a commercially available desktop 3D printer, monolithic construction free of wire-bonded interconnections, and simplicity, indicating its potential for flow monitoring and condition-based maintenance systems aboard vessels as well as in a wide range of industrial sectors. We should note that the present characterisation was performed under laboratory conditions employing a single prototype per design stage; the effects of humidity, salt exposure, vibration, temperature cycling, and material-batch variability remain to be assessed prior to shipboard deployment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Printing Methodologies for Sensors: Towards Bespoke Devices for Analysis)
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15 pages, 2007 KB  
Article
Fabrication of Low-Cost and Customizable Planar Electrochemical Devices Using Multi-Material 3D Printing and Platinum Leaves
by Michele Abate, Gino Bontempelli and Nicolò Dossi
Sensors 2026, 26(14), 4528; https://doi.org/10.3390/s26144528 - 16 Jul 2026
Viewed by 253
Abstract
This paper introduces a novel method for producing planar electrochemical devices by combining multi-material 3D printing with metal leaves (3D-MLEs). The fabrication process is based on the use of two polymeric materials, polylactic acid (PLA) and polycaprolactone (PCL), leveraging their different melting points. [...] Read more.
This paper introduces a novel method for producing planar electrochemical devices by combining multi-material 3D printing with metal leaves (3D-MLEs). The fabrication process is based on the use of two polymeric materials, polylactic acid (PLA) and polycaprolactone (PCL), leveraging their different melting points. The approach exploits the thermoadhesive properties of polyesters, which can act as bonding layers upon heating, enabling a direct-writing and low-step fabrication strategy. The device was fabricated using a dual-extruder 3D printer to produce a PLA support containing PCL tracks, followed by selective thermal adhesion of the metal leaf onto the PCL. This process exploits the different melting temperatures of the two polymers: PCL softens and becomes adhesive at the selected temperature, while the PLA support remains structurally unaffected. A final brushing step enables the definition of a well-controlled three-electrode geometry. Following optimization of the fabrication parameters, a platinum leaf-based device (3D-PtLE) was assembled and evaluated using potassium hexacyanoferrate(II) and hexaammineruthenium(III) chloride as redox probes. The optimized device was subsequently applied to hydrogen peroxide detection in phosphate buffer (pH 7), exhibiting a linear response in the concentration range of 0.25–5 mM, with a limit of detection of 67 μM and good repeatability (RSD = 4.2%). The analytical applicability of the device was further demonstrated through the analysis of a real sample consisting of washing water prepared from a sodium percarbonate-based cleaning tablet, with good agreement (98 ± 6%) with the standard titration method. The proposed strategy provides a simple, low-cost, and customizable approach for fabricating planar electrochemical platforms based on pure metal electrodes, combining high analytical performance with straightforward manufacturing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Printing Methodologies for Sensors: Towards Bespoke Devices for Analysis)
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