Recent progress on polymeric probes for formaldehyde sensing: a comprehensive review

Sci Technol Adv Mater. 2024 Nov 12;25(1):2423597. doi: 10.1080/14686996.2024.2423597. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Formaldehyde (FA) is a reactive toxic volatile organic compound (VOC), produced both exogenously from the environment and endogenously within most organisms, and poses significant health risks to humans at elevated concentrations. Consequently, the development of reliable and sensitive FA sensing technologies is crucial for environmental monitoring, industrial safety, and public health protection. This review will provide a concise overview of FA sensing methodologies, highlighting key principles, sensing mechanisms, and recent advancements. The main aim of this review article is to comprehensively discuss recent advancements in FA sensors utilizing small molecules, nanoparticles, organic materials, and polymers, along with their successful applications across various fields, with particular emphasis on in situ FA sensing using polymeric probes due to their advantages over small molecular probes. Additionally, it will discuss prospects for future design and research in this area. We anticipate that this article will aid in the development of next-generation polymeric FA sensing probed with improved physicochemical properties.

Keywords: Formaldehyde; Sensors and actuators; colorimetric sensing; fluorescent probe; fluorometric sensing; polymeric probe.

Plain language summary

The main objective of this review article is to provide a comprehensive overview of formaldehyde sensing, highlighting the advantages of polymer-based sensors over other types of sensors.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

The work was supported by the Scheme for Transformational and Advanced Research in Sciences (STARS) [STARS/APR2019/CS/122/FS].