SESSION SYNOPSIS
This Special Session proposes an overview of how the bio- and chemosensor components, both the transducer and the receptor, can be used to modify the response of the bio/chemical sensor system in order to produce the desired optimal performance for the specific application, e.g. the detection range can be changed among different target concentration ranges.
Highly sensitive bio- and chemosensors configurations are developed by using innovative platforms that efficiently excite ultra-sensitive phenomena (e.g., surface plasmon resonance (SPR) or Localized SPR, electrochemical, Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS), Whispering Gallery Modes (WGMs), Bloch surface waves, fluorescence, etc). These probes/transducers can be combined with different kinds of chemical or biological receptors for several application fields, such as Point of Care testing (POCT), Lab on Chip (LoC) devices, optical fiber probes and cavities for chemo/bio-sensing. The selectivity of the sensor is ensured by specific Molecular Recognition Elements (MRE) in contact with the sensing surfaces, such as molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), antibodies, aptamers, nanoMIPs, etc. A plethora of target molecules can be measured with the proposed approaches, such as pollutants, viruses, bacteria, toxic metals, pesticides, biomarkers, or other analytes of interest in different matrices.