AUTHOR=Fan Jing , Qiu Lili , Qiao Yu , Xue Min , Dong Xiao , Meng Zihui 

TITLE=Recent Advances in Sensing Applications of Molecularly Imprinted Photonic Crystals

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.665119

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2021.665119

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=Photonic crystals (PhCs) with bright structure color are novel materials and are widely used in chemical and biological sensing. Combining PhCs with molecular imprinting technology (MIT), the molecularly imprinted photonic crystal (MIPC) sensors are fabricated, which can recognize the target molecules specifically. Besides the high sensitivity and selectivity, the MIPC sensors could realize the naked eye detection due to the optical properties. In this review, an overview of recent advances in sensing applications of MIPC sensors including the responsive mechanisms, application in environment monitoring and the application in human health is illustrated. The MIPC sensors all respond to the analytes specifically and also show high sensitivity in real samples, which provides a method to realize the rapid, convenient, naked eye and real-time detection. Furthermore, the current limitations and potential future directions of MIPC sensors are also discussed.