Polydiacetylene (PDA) sensors have been developed as food management tools due to their convenient colorimetric signal, low cost, versatility, and ability to be incorporated into food packaging materials and devices....
Recently, volatile organic compound
(VOC) detection has broadened
from conventional environmental safety and air quality monitoring
to food quality control and disease diagnosis. Current VOC detection
technologies are expensive, bulky, and nonintuitive. Polydiacetylenes
(PDAs) as colorimetric sensors have been extensively studied owing
to their unique structural and optical properties. PDA’s color
changes from blue (nonfluorescent) to red (fluorescent) upon exposure
to stimuli. This blue-to-red transition is visible to the naked eye,
making it highly suitable for independent and rapid detection. PDA
is versatile and can be fabricated in various forms including paper,
thin film, and 3D scaffold. In this Perspective, we provide an overview
of PDA-based systems for VOC detection. We focus not only on the performance
but also on the sensor VOC testing methods (calculation and experimental
setup). We then identify several aspects to improve in future research
to enable cross-comparison and validation between studies. Furthermore,
we also outline the key considerations for device fabrication to facilitate
better translation of research to commercialization.
The detection of pathogenic bacteria is essential to prevent and treat infections and to provide food security. Current gold-standard detection techniques, such as culture-based assays and polymerase chain reaction, are time-consuming and require centralized laboratories. Therefore, efforts have focused on developing point-of-care devices that are fast, cheap, portable and do not require specialized training. Paper-based analytical devices meet these criteria and are particularly suitable to deployment in low-resource settings. In this Review, we highlight paper-based analytical devices with substantial point-of-care applicability for bacteria detection and discuss challenges and opportunities for future development.
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