Smart Packaging: Flexible Sensors for Food Monitoring Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Food waste is a major environmental and social problem around the world, with studies showing that more than one-third of global food is lost along the supply chain. It is estimated that two-thirds of food waste can be prevented if there were food sensors capable of evaluating food quality. While sensors are widely used in almost all aspects of human life, their implementation in food industry has been particularly sluggish. This is mainly because of the challenges that exist in incorporating “food-safe” sensors into “flexible” food packaging. The majority of the materials that are used in current sensor technology are not of food-grade or functional in wet environment. At the same time, the common sensors made of such materials are rigid and bulky. The combination of these factors highlights the level of delicacy that is required in the development of smart materials to be used in fabrication of flexible sensors for food industry.     

The aim of this Special Issue is to present the readers with a concise overview on recent developments and novel approaches in implementing sensors in food packaging. The proposed special issue will be dedicated to high-quality research articles, as well as original review papers, that highlight recent advancements in smart, functional materials and systems designed for food industry biosensing. A particular interest will be given to articles demonstrating “soft” materials that are capable of responding to pathogens, biologically active or toxic compounds, pH changes, temperature changes, and biological gases.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Development of materials for biological sensors for the detection of microorganisms
• Biological sensors with chemiresistive sensing mechanism
• Potentiometric and amperometric biological sensors
• Biological gas sensors for CO2, H2S, CH4, ethanol, etc.
• Printable soft sensors for smart packaging
• Emerging material and devices in stretchable, disposable, dissolvable, and biodegradable electronics for food monitoring systems
• Sensor interface readout circuits for food monitoring systems

Dr. Sina Naficy
Dr. Rona Chandrawati
Dr. Hadi Heidari
Guest Editors

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• smart packaging
• flexible sensors
• food sensors
• food packaging