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Antibiotic resistance and, accordingly, their pollution because of uncontrolled usage has emerged as a serious problem in recent years. Hence, there is an increased demand to develop robust, easy, and sensitive methods for rapid evaluation of antibiotics and their residues. Among different analytical methods, the aptamer-based biosensors (aptasensors) have attracted considerable attention because of good selectivity, specificity, and sensitivity. This review gives an overview about recently-developed aptasensors for antibiotic detection. The use of various aptamer assays to determine different groups of antibiotics, like β-lactams, aminoglycosides, anthracyclines, chloramphenicol, (fluoro)quinolones, lincosamide, tetracyclines, and sulfonamides are presented in this paper.

Composites of organic compounds and inorganic nanomaterials provide novel sensing platforms for high-performance sensor applications. The combination of the attractive functionalities of nanomaterials with polymers as an organic matrix offers promising materials with tunable electrical, mechanical, and chemisensitive properties. This review mainly focuses on nanocarbon/polymer composites as chemiresistors. We first describe the structure and properties of carbon nanofillers as reinforcement agents used in the manufacture of polymer composites and the sensing mechanism of developed nanocomposites as chemiresistors. Then, the design and synthesizing methods of polymer composites based on carbon nanofillers are discussed. The electrical conductivity, mechanical properties, and the applications of different nanocarbon/polymer composites for the detection of different analytes are reviewed. Lastly, challenges and the future vision for applications of such nanocomposites are described.

With the growing demands for bone implant therapy, titanium (Ti) and its alloys are considered as appropriate choices for the load-bearing bone implant substitutes. However, the interaction of bare Ti-based implants with the tissues is critical to the success of the implants for long-term stability. Thus, surface modifications of Ti implants with biocompatible hydroxyapatite (HAp) coatings before implantation is important and gained interest. Sol-gel is a potential technique for deposition the biocompatible HAp and has many advantages over other methods. Therefore, this review strives to provide widespread overview on the recent development of sol-gel HAp deposition on Ti. This study shows that sol-gel technique was able to produce uniform and homogenous HAp coatings and identified the role of surface pretreatment of Ti substrate, optimizing the sol-gel parameters, substitution, and reinforcement of HAp on improving the coating properties. Critical factors that influence on the characteristics of the deposited sol-gel HAp films as corrosion resistance, adhesion to substrate, bioactivity, morphological, and structural properties are discussed. The review also highlights the critical issues, the most significant challenges, and the areas requiring further research.

Globally, there is growing concern about the health risks of water and air pollution. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed a list of priority pollutants containing 129 different chemical compounds. All of these chemicals are of significant interest due to their serious health and safety issues. Permanent exposure to some concentrations of these chemicals can cause severe and irrecoverable health effects, which can be easily prevented by their early identification. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) offer great potential for selective adsorption of chemicals from water and air samples. These selective artificial bio(mimetic) receptors are promising candidates for modification of sensors, especially disposable sensors, due to their low-cost, long-term stability, ease of engineering, simplicity of production and their applicability for a wide range of targets. Herein, innovative strategies used to develop MIP-based sensors for EPA priority pollutants will be reviewed.

Although tremendous progress has been made in treating childhood cancer, it is still one of the leading causes of death in children worldwide. Because cancer symptoms overlap with those of other diseases, it is difficult to predict a tumor early enough, which causes cancers in children to be more aggressive and progress more rapidly than in adults. Therefore, early and accurate detection methods are urgently needed to effectively treat children with cancer therapy. Identification and detection of cancer biomarkers serve as non-invasive tools for early cancer screening, prevention, and treatment. Biosensors have emerged as a potential technology for rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective biomarker detection and monitoring. In this review, we provide an overview of important biomarkers for several common childhood cancers. Accordingly, we have enumerated the developed biosensors for early detection of pediatric cancer or related biomarkers. This review offers a restructured platform for ongoing research in pediatric cancer diagnostics that can contribute to the development of rapid biosensing techniques for early-stage diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of children with cancer and reduce the mortality rate.

A pH-responsive chitosan-coated magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (MMIP) was developed as a controlled-release drug carrier with enhanced selectivity, loading capacity, and release modulation. The carrier was constructed by synthesizing Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 magnetic cores and forming a molecularly imprinted shell using 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) as the functional monomer. Imatinib (IMA ) , a clinically important tyrosine kinase inhibitor, was used as both the model drug and the template to evaluate the carrier’s performance. To further enhance sustained and pH-responsive release, the MMIP was coated with a biocompatible chitosan (CS) layer after drug loading, yielding a hybrid core–shell nanocomposite (MMIP@CS). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), microscopic images and dynamic light scattering (DLS) confirmed its structural integrity, magnetic properties, and well-controlled synthesis process. The system exhibited a high drug loading capacity (65.4%), reflecting strong molecular recognition within the imprinted cavities. The release studies at pH 7.4 and 5.5 demonstrated that the CS coating significantly improved release control over 96 h compared to the uncoated MMIP, enabling sustained and pH-dependent drug delivery. Kinetic modeling indicated that the Korsmeyer–Peppas model best described the release mechanism, suggesting a combined diffusion- and polymer-relaxation-controlled process. In vitro cytotoxicity assays further confirmed that IMA-MMIP@CS exhibited enhanced cytotoxicity against K562 cells while maintaining higher viability in normal PBMCs, highlighting its biocompatibility and therapeutic potential.

The functionality of products increases when more sensors are used. This trend also affects future automobiles and becomes even more relevant in connected and autonomous applications. Concerning automotive lightweight design, carbon fibre-reinforced polymers (CFRP) are suitable materials. However, their drawbacks include the relatively high manufacturing costs of CFRP components in addition to the difficulty of recycling. To compensate for the increased expenditure, the integration of automotive sensors in CFRP vehicle structures provides added value. As a new approach, established sensors are integrated into fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) structures. The sensors are usually mounted to the vehicle. The integration of sensors into the structure saves weight and space. Many other approaches specifically develop new sensors for integration into FRP structures. With the new approach, there is no need for elaborate development of new sensors since established sensors are used. The present research also showed that the range of applications of the sensors can be extended by the integration. The present paper outlines the functional behaviour of the integrated sensor utilized for crashing sensing. First of all, the integration quality of the sensor is relevant. Different requirements apply to the usual mounting of the sensor. The self-sensing structure must fulfil those requirements. Moreover, unfamiliar characteristics of the new surrounding structure might affect the sensing behaviour. Thus, the sensing behaviour of the self-sensing composite was analyzed in detail. The overarching objective is the general integration of sensors in products with reasonable effort.

The biosynthesis, chemistry, structural features and functionality of spongin as a halogenated scleroprotein of keratosan demosponges are still paradigms. This review has the principal goal of providing thorough and comprehensive coverage of spongin as a naturally prefabricated 3D biomaterial with multifaceted applications. The history of spongin’s discovery and use in the form of commercial sponges, including their marine farming strategies, have been analyzed and are discussed here. Physicochemical and material properties of spongin-based scaffolds are also presented. The review also focuses on prospects and trends in applications of spongin for technology, materials science and biomedicine. Special attention is paid to applications in tissue engineering, adsorption of dyes and extreme biomimetics.

An advanced process for the manufacturing of aerogel-lined capillaries is presented; these are applicable as liquid-core waveguides for gaining the Raman signal of aqueous samples. With respect to the spin-coating process we have used so far for the manufacturing of aerogel-lined capillaries, the here-presented manufacturing process is advanced as it enables (i) the lining of longer capillaries, (ii) the adjustment of the lining-thickness via the lining velocity, and (iii) the reproducible generation of crack-free linings. The key parameters of the advanced process and their effect on the fabrication of aerogel-lined capillaries with optimal Raman signal gain are reported and related to the thickness and topography of the aerogel linings by the support of scanning electron microscopy.

Gallic acid (GA) is one of the most important polyphenols, being widely used in the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries due to its biological effects such as antioxidant, antibacterial, anticancer, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and cardioprotective properties. Hence, simple, fast, and sensitive determination of GA is of particular importance. Considering the fact that GA is an electroactive compound, electrochemical sensors offer great potential for GA quantitation due to their fast response time, high sensitivity, and ease of use. A simple, fast, and sensitive GA sensor was fabricated on the basis of a high-performance bio-nanocomposite using spongin as a natural 3D polymer, atacamite, and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The developed sensor showed an excellent response toward GA oxidation with remarkable electrochemical features due to the synergistic effects of 3D porous spongin and MWCNTs, which provide a large surface area and enhance the electrocatalytic activity of atacamite. At optimal conditions by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), a good linear relationship was obtained between peak currents and GA concentrations in a wild linear range of 500 nM to 1 mM. Subsequently, the proposed sensor was used to detect GA in red wine as well as in green and black tea, confirming its great potential as a reliable alternative to conventional methods for GA determination.