Polymers and nano-objects, a rational combination for developing health monitoring biosensors

International audienceBiosensors are essential tools in the health and the environmental sectors since they allow fast and reliable diagnostics and analysis. Biosensors are defined by the biological sensing element, which contains biomolecules or synthetic, bioinspired entities with unique specificity towards the analyte. The biological or bioinspired recognition even can be transduced into an electric, electrochemical, or optical signal. A constant challenge for the development of biosensors is the confinement of these selective entities in devices without altering the biological activity. Polymers are great candidates to serve as substrates for the immobilization or entrapment of bioreceptors related to well established synthesis routes with highly modulable chemical functions to create an almost ideal environment for the biomolecules. Nanomaterials are of constant increasing interest since they allow not only to increase drastically the specific surface for higher amounts of receptor units, but also provide electric or optical properties leading to enhanced signal capture. As for bioreceptors, such nanomaterials can be integrated polymer matrices for reliable processability. This review aims to summarize selected original examples about biosensors for health monitoring using beneficial combinations of nanomaterials and polymers