Traditional laboratory-based sensing strategies for food contaminant detection are often limited because they are time-consuming and expensive and require trained personnel, which makes them unsuitable for routine sensing. Therefore, the scientific and industrial community is showing enormous interest in the design and development of portable sensing devices for the on-site and point-of-care detection of food contaminants. Portability is one of the chief characteristic features of designing contemporary analytical devices. Portable devices have received tremendous attention, as these novel devices have advanced the field of sensing. Various sensing strategies have been utilized for on-site detection of food contaminants. Among these, portable electrochemical devices have emerged vigorously in the past few years. Scientists and industrialists have worked effortlessly to develop portable electrochemical devices for a minute amount of food contaminant detection in water bodies and food products. The current work aims to demonstrate recent research progress related to the design, development, and improvement of portable electrochemical devices for detection of food contaminants.

Sustainable cultivation and safe agricultural production are needed to ensure the safety of all living organisms and ecosystems. Most agricultural foods currently contain unacceptable levels of pesticide residues. In an attempt to ensure pest control and high crop yields, farmers spray a large number of pesticides in quantities that exceed the safety limits for agricultural crops. Pesticide residues are highly toxic to humans, causing severe and even deadly diseases. Traditional analytical strategies for laboratory pesticide detection are often limited because they are time‐consuming and require trained personnel, which makes them very costly. Hence, accurate, rapid, and on‐site analysis of pesticides is drawing increasing attention for food safety reasons. Therefore, on‐site or point‐of‐care (POC) detection of pesticide residues has become an approach of paramount importance. Recently, various portable detection technologies, such as colorimetric, fluorescence, electrochemical, surface plasmon resonance, chemiluminescence, phosphorescence, microfluidic, and surface‐enhanced Raman scattering techniques, have been designed for on‐site monitoring of pesticide residues in vegetables and fruits. These devices have demonstrated great power of detection in preclinical agricultural settings. This review highlights the emerging insights and novel advances in portable devices, POC technologies, and on‐site sensing approaches for the detection of pesticide residues in agricultural foods. However, greater rigor in the design of portable pesticide‐detection devices is essential. The increasing demand for rapid detection of hazardous pesticide components has prompted a timely opportunity to summarize recent developments and progress in portable devices and on‐site sensing strategies to evaluate food safety.

Recently, there has been a lot of focus on developing new waste-to-energy technologies because they help us to provide sustainable energy solutions for future generations. This review paper investigates an innovative waste-to-energy technology known as triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), which uses the electrostatic induction and contact electrification principles of physics. The underlying physics of TENG technology allows for a wide range of material choices for its fabrication; as a result, waste materials are utilized for energy production using TENGs. It comprehensively discusses how various types of waste, including plastic, electronic, medical, household, and biowaste, can be integrated into TENG technology for efficient energy production. Furthermore, various applications of waste-based TENGs are discussed in detail. Finally, we projected challenges and future directions for creating a sustainable, green energy landscape. Graphical abstract The review article presents a detailed exploration of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) as novel waste-to-energy technologies that utilize waste materials.