Phosphate detection and water quality monitoring by printed electrochemical sensors

Phosphate plays crucial roles in biological, agricultural, industrial, and ecological processes as excessive phosphate in the environment can lead to eutrophication, causing harmful algal blooms and oxygen depletion. Therefore, phosphate sensing in water is essential for monitoring environmental health. To develop highly sensitive electrochemical sensors, we tested two phosphate receptors, one based on host-guest oxyanion complexation via electrostatic and hydrogen-bonding interactions and the other interacting through coordination bonds, for developing effective and selective electrochemical sensors for phosphate detection in water. In this work, composite layers of semiconducting polymer and supramolecular receptors, such as cyanostar or europium(III) complexes, are processed onto interdigitated electrodes to adjust the sensor characteristics and improve sensitivity. The integration of semiconducting polymers with supramolecular receptors presents numerous possibilities for designing novel transistor sensors, which can be applied in devices for bioanalysis, environmental monitoring, and bioelectronics applications.