Wearable sensors based on solid-contact ion-selective electrodes (SC-ISEs) are currently attracting intensive attention in monitoring human health conditions through real-time and non-invasive analysis of ions in biological fluids. SC-ISEs have gone through a revolution with improvements in potential stability and reproducibility. The introduction of new transducing materials, the understanding of theoretical potentiometric responses, and wearable applications greatly facilitate SC-ISEs. We review recent advances in SC-ISEs including the response mechanism (redox capacitance and electric-double-layer capacitance mechanisms) and crucial solid transducer materials (conducting polymers, carbon and other nanomaterials) and applications in wearable sensors. At the end of the review we illustrate the existing challenges and prospects for future SC-ISEs. We expect this review to provide readers with a general picture of SC-ISEs and appeal to further establishing protocols for evaluating SC-ISEs and accelerating commercial wearable sensors for clinical diagnosis and family practice.
Wearable sensors reflect the real–time physiological information and health status of individuals by continuously monitoring biochemical markers in biological fluids, including sweat, tears and saliva, and are a key technology to realize portable personalized medicine. Flexible electrochemical pH sensors can play a significant role in health since the pH level affects most biochemical reactions in the human body. pH indicators can be used for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases as well as the monitoring of biological processes. The performances and applications of wearable pH sensors depend significantly on the properties of the pH–sensitive materials used. At present, existing pH–sensitive materials are mainly based on polyaniline (PANI), hydrogen ionophores (HIs) and metal oxides (MOx). In this review, we will discuss the recent progress in wearable pH sensors based on these sensitive materials. Finally, a viewpoint for state–of–the–art wearable pH sensors and a discussion of their existing challenges are presented.
The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) leads to the generation of oxidative stress, which will result in the excessive production and accumulation of melanin in the body and even the occurrence of some skin diseases. The intervention of antioxidants can slow down the rate of melanin formation to some extent. In order to explore the relationship between ROS, melanin and antioxidants, this work investigated the effects of antioxidants on melanin formation by the scavenging of ROS in vitro, where zebrafish were used as the model organism in in vivo experiments. The results showed that the inhibition order of natural antioxidants on melanin formation was GSH > AA > GA and PG > BHT > BHA for synthetic antioxidants. Between natural antioxidants and synthetic antioxidants, the former mainly have a strong scavenging ability on ˙OH and 1O2, while the latter have a strong scavenging ability on O2˙−. At the same time, the results in vivo showed that GSH and PG within a certain concentration not only did not affect the hatchability, survival rate and teratogenic rate of zebrafish embryos, but also can significantly inhibit melanin formation in zebrafish embryos. The results of this study have an important guiding significance for the dosage of antioxidants used in the cosmetics and food industries.
We review polythiophene and its derivative (PT)-based polymer donors for all-PSCs, focusing on material design, morphology optimization strategies, and the selection and design of polymer acceptors that complement their properties.