Interfacial Structures and Properties of Organic Materials for Biosensors: An Overview

The capabilities of biosensors for bio-environmental monitoring have profound influences on medical, pharmaceutical, and environmental applications. This paper provides an overview on the background and applications of the state-of-the-art biosensors. Different types of biosensors are summarized and sensing mechanisms are discussed. A review of organic materials used in biosensors is given. Specifically, this review focuses on self-assembled monolayers (SAM) due to their high sensitivity and high versatility. The kinetics, chemistry, and the immobilization strategies of biomolecules are discussed. Other representative organic materials, such as graphene, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and conductive polymers are also introduced in this review.