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Review
. 2024 Jan 26;25(3):1564.
doi: 10.3390/ijms25031564.

Advances in the Use of Conducting Polymers for Healthcare Monitoring

Cuong Van Le  1   2 , Hyeonseok Yoon  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Advances in the Use of Conducting Polymers for Healthcare Monitoring

Cuong Van Le et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Conducting polymers (CPs) are an innovative class of materials recognized for their high flexibility and biocompatibility, making them an ideal choice for health monitoring applications that require flexibility. They are active in their design. Advances in fabrication technology allow the incorporation of CPs at various levels, by combining diverse CPs monomers with metal particles, 2D materials, carbon nanomaterials, and copolymers through the process of polymerization and mixing. This method produces materials with unique physicochemical properties and is highly customizable. In particular, the development of CPs with expanded surface area and high conductivity has significantly improved the performance of the sensors, providing high sensitivity and flexibility and expanding the range of available options. However, due to the morphological diversity of new materials and thus the variety of characteristics that can be synthesized by combining CPs and other types of functionalities, choosing the right combination for a sensor application is difficult but becomes important. This review focuses on classifying the role of CP and highlights recent advances in sensor design, especially in the field of healthcare monitoring. It also synthesizes the sensing mechanisms and evaluates the performance of CPs on electrochemical surfaces and in the sensor design. Furthermore, the applications that can be revolutionized by CPs will be discussed in detail.

Keywords: conducting polymers; human health monitoring; sensor technology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 4
Figure 4
CPs polymerization methods. (Reprint from Ref. [118] Copyright (2015), with permission from Springer Nature Publisher).
Figure 1
Figure 1
Role of CPs in receiving and processing stimulation signals.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Inventory of CPs along with their abbreviations.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Conduction mechanism of PAc, a typical of CPs. (Referenced from Ref. [8] Copyright (2018), with permission from MDPI Publisher).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Advantages of using CPs for biosensors (Reprint from Ref. [121] Copyright (2018), with permission from Elsevier Publisher). (Reprint from Ref. [122] Copyright (2015), with permission from Springer Nature Publisher). (Reprint from Ref. [123] Copyright (2020), with permission from ACS Publisher). (Reprint from Ref. [124] Copyright (2020), with permission from MDPI Publisher).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Main properties and roles of CPs in human health sensors [141,142,143].
Figure 7
Figure 7
Schematic of the NO2 sensing performance of an OFET based on CPs; composite of rGO-incorporated nano-porous films. (Reprint from Ref. [213] (copyright (2023) ACS Publisher).
Figure 8
Figure 8
Design of OFET sensor based on CPs. (a) the photo-irradiated P3HT and rGO composite films were used in the OFET configuration. (b) Comparison of responses of OFET sensors based on pristine P3HT, pristine P3HT/rGO (90/10), photo-irradiated bare P3HT, and photo-irradiated P3HT/rGO (90/10) to 10 ppm methanol vapor. (c) Photo-irradiated P3HT/rGO showed consistent methanol vapor sensing (90/10). (d) The composite depicts the interactions between methanol vapor and rGO molecules, and it shows how a photo-irradiated P3HT/rGO (90/10) sensor responds to different methanol vapor concentrations. Testing of the OFET sensor was performed in a continuous environment [227]. (Reprint from Ref. [227] (copyright (2021) Elsevier Publisher).
Figure 9
Figure 9
OFET sensor’s ability to identify VOC vapors based on CPs. After exposure to 10 ppm of polar VOC vapors, namely methanol, acetone, ethanol, and isopropyl alcohol, photo-irradiated P3HT/rGO (90/10)-based OFET sensors showed the responses and normalized drain currents displayed in (a,b). (c) Corresponding responsivity (right axis) and response/recovery time (left axis) for 60-s on/off pulses. VGS = −10 V and VDS = −40 V were the constant voltages used for the OFET sensor test [227].(Reprint from Ref. [227] (copyright (2021) with permission from Elsevier Publisher).
Figure 10
Figure 10
Sensing mechanisms of CPs-based biosensors.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Three different images of CPs nanotube-based aptamer sensor platforms: (a) a schematic of the reaction steps, (b) an FE-SEM image of a typical CPPy nanotube deposited on an interdigitated microelectrode substrate, (c) a schematic of a CPPy nanotube sensor platform with the liquid-ion gate (G), drain (D), and source (S) marked. (d) The CPPy nanotube FET sensors’s real-time responses were measured at VSD = −15 mV for 1 CA: 15 PPy (CPNT-1) and −10 mV for 1 CA: 30 PPy (CPNT-2). The ISD changed upon the addition of 90 nM _target (thrombin, T) and non_target (BSA, B) proteins in succession (the arrow denotes the addition of protein solutions). (e) The calibration curves show that the sensitivity of the CPPy nanotube FET sensors changed with the thrombin concentration. (Reprint from Ref. [291] Copyright (2008), with permission from Wiley Publisher).
Figure 12
Figure 12
Overview of the modified porous fibrous process with precisely regulated substructures by using surfactant-in-polymer templating, applied for CPs. (Reprint from Ref. [293] Copyright (2021), with permission from Wiley Publisher).
Figure 13
Figure 13
Schematic diagram of the biosensor based on positive electrodes from CPs. (a) Positive electrode structure with PEDOT transducer layer excited by photothermal and photovoltaic effects. (b) PEC biosensor assembly process. (Redraw from Ref. [297] Copyright (2021), with permission from ACS Publisher).
Figure 14
Figure 14
Sensing mechanisms of CP-based wearable sensors (Referenced from Ref. [308] Copyright (2022), with permission from MDPI Publisher).
Figure 15
Figure 15
The design of a corneal sensor based on CPs. (Referenced from Ref. [103] Copyright (2021), with permission from Springer Nature Publisher).
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