Nanosized hydrophobic gels: Advanced supramolecules for use in electrochemical bio- and immunosensing

Abstract

Nanosized hydrogels have emerging as versatile supramolecules materials with application in various electrochemical biosensing devices. This review reports a systematic study of the usefulness of nanosized hydrogels in the different steps of the process of development of electrochemical biosensing systems. The advantages offered by nano-sized hydrogels in detection of analytes are illustrated with representative recent examples that highlight the scientific interest in widening the use of hydrogel nanoparticles in electrochemical biosensing methods. In this review, different types of hydrogel nanoparticles-based electrochemical biosensors, such as enzyme, protein, and nucleic acids are reviewed in terms of their sensing performance and potential of future development. Various aspects of nanosized hydrogels, from the point of view of electrochemical biosensor design, were considered hoping that this review will excite researchers into exploiting the exceptional properties of nano-sized hydrogels in electrochemical biosensor development. Finally, some future applications of electrochemical biosensors based on nano-sized hydrogels were discussed. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.