A sensory polymeric material for the colorimetric sensing of cyanide in water has been developed based on the reactivity of this anion with the pyrylium cation.

We describe herein the state of the art following the last 8 years of research into aromatic polyamides, wholly aromatic polyamides or aramids. These polymers belong to the family of high performance materials because of their exceptional thermal and mechanical behavior. Commercially, they have been transformed into fibers mainly for production of advanced composites, paper, and cut and fire protective garments. Huge research efforts have been carried out to take advantage of the mentioned characteristics in advanced fields related to transport applications, optically active materials, electroactive materials, smart materials, or materials with even better mechanical and thermal behavior.

This work describes the preparation of luminescent, high-performance aromatic polyamides. The fluorescent behaviour was achieved by preparing a diacid monomer containing a fluorescent dipicolinic acid derivative and polymerising it with commercially available aromatic diacid and diamine monomers to give polyisophthalamides. These materials can be structurally compared to commercialised meta-aramid fibres [poly(m-phenylene isophthalamide), brand names: NOMEX® and Teijinconex®]. The pendant fluorescent motif provided the material with a light green fluorescence and was found to be a selective host unit for cations of environmental, biomedical and industrial significance [Cr(VI), Fe(III) and Cu(III)].

The present review presents the most recent developments concerning the application of sensory polymers in the detection and quantification of different target species. We will firstly describe the main polymers that are being employed as sensory polymers, including, for example, conducting or acrylate-based polymers. In the second part of the review, we will briefly describe the different mechanisms of detection and the target species, such as metal cations and anions, explosives, and biological and biomedical substances. To conclude, we will describe the advancements in recent years concerning the fabrication of micro and nano sensory devices based on smart polymers, with a bibliographic revision of the research work published between 2005 and today, with special emphasis on research work presented since 2010. A final section exposing the perspectives and challenges of this interesting research line will end the present review article.

The interaction between trivalent lanthanide ions and poly(1,4,7,10,13‐pentaoxacyclopentadecan‐2‐yl‐methyl methacrylate), PCR5, in aqueous solution and in the solid state have been studied. In aqueous solution, evidence of a weak interaction between the lanthanides and PCR5 comes from the small red shift of the Ce(III) emission spectra and the slight broadening of the Gd(III) EPR spectra. From the Tb(III) lifetimes in the presence of H₂O and D₂O the loss of one or two water coordinated molecules is confirmed when Tb(III) is bound to PCR5. An association constant of the order of 200 M⁻¹ was obtained for a 1:1 (lanthanide:15‐crown‐5) complex from the shift of the polymer NMR signals induced by Tb(III). A similar association constant is obtained from the differences of the molar conductivity of Ce(III) solution at various concentrations in presence and absence of PCR5. When Tb(III) is adsorbed on PCR5 membranes, lifetime experiments in H₂O and D₂O confirm the loss of 5 or 6 water coordinated molecules indicating that in solid state the lanthanide(III)‐PCR5 interaction is stronger than in solution. The adsorption of Ce(III) in PCR5 membranes shows a Langmuir type isotherm, from which an equilibrium constant of 39 M⁻¹ has been calculated. SEM shows that the membrane morphology is not much affected by lanthanide adsorption. Support for lanthanide ion–crown interactions comes from ab initio calculations on 15‐crown‐5/La(III) complex. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 1788–1799, 2007