Opportunities for quantum dots in energy-relevant sensing applications: a survey

Quantum dot (QD)-based technologies have undergone rapid development since their initial discovery, particularly in the field of sensing. As a result, several use cases and new opportunities are emerging that benefit from these technologies across multiple areas relevant to energy applications. Researchers have exploited the unique properties of QDs, including their electronic, spintronic, magnetic, optical and magnetic behaviors, combined with well-established surface functionalization protocols to design high-performance sensor devices. Critical parameters including stability, robustness, accuracy, and sensitivity in different environmental settings have been evaluated during these studies. While a plethora of reviews have described QD sensors in extensive detail, this review is unique in that it focuses specifically on energy sector applications, an area that has largely been neglected to date, providing insights on the current state and possible avenues for deploying QD sensors. We provide updates on QD applications for gas sensing, deployment in pipelines and other energy infrastructure, pH sensing, environmental monitoring, detection of critical minerals such as rare earths, and fluid flow sensing and monitoring. We also briefly describe the possibility of adapting promising QD-based biomedical applications to the energy sector with little or no engineering efforts.