Special Issue "State-of-the-Art Polymer Based pH Sensors"

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Khalil Arshak
Electronics and Computer Engineering Department, College of Informatics & Electronics, University of Limerick, Plassey Technological Park, Limerick, Ireland
Website: http://www.ece.ul.ie/Research/mesrg/index.html
E-Mail:
Interests: thin and thick film technology; mixed oxide thin- and thick-film sensor development; e-nose technology; gas; humidity; temperature; radiation sensors; solar cells; thin dielectric oxide films using MIM structures; FIB lithography process development & mod

Guest Editor
Dr. Olga Korostynska
Electronics and Computer Engineering Department College of Informatics & Electronics, University of Limerick Plassey Technological Park, Limerick
E-Mail:
Interests: thin and thick film technology; nanopatterning using optical and FIB lithography; polymers and mixed oxide thin- and thick-film sensor development including: humidity, pressure, strain gauge, radiation, gas and pH sensors with the focus on miniaturised sensors for medical applications

The pH sensor has many uses in chemistry, biology, environmental monitoring, especially water quality control and so forth. Advances in semiconductor sensor technology, medical diagnostics and health care needs boosted a rapid research into novel miniaturised pH sensors, which can be used in vivo for continuous patient monitoring. The $180 million pH sensor market in the US and $400-500m globally is well established and fragmented, with over 45 companies serving laboratory and industrial applications. The need for developing truly biocompatible materials for sensor fabrication remains the most significant challenge for achieving robust and reliable sensors capable of monitoring the real-time physiological status of patients. In recent years, considerable interest has focused on development of chemical or biological sensors using functional polymers. By introduction of functional groups, polymers can be designed to selectively swell and shrink, thereby changing mass and elasticity, as a function of analyte concentration. Various polymers have also been considered suitable for potentiometric pH sensors. Full research papers are encouraged for submission, which present new experimental or theoretical results; new modification/combination of detection principles in a broad field of polymer-based pH sensors. It can feature all aspects of amperometric, potentiometric, conductometric, coulometric, impedimetric, voltammetric and so forth pH sensors for numerous applications. There are no length restrictions for the manuscripts.

pH sensors, pH sensitive polymers, conducting polymers, instrumentation and principles of pH sensing, industrial water quality control, biocompatible materials employed for pH sensing applications