Special Issue on Advanced Materials and Micro-, Nano-Structures for Chemical and Physical Sensors

Sensors play a crucial role in our society through enabling smart buildings, environmental monitoring and modern manufacturing control. The efficiency and sustainability of the sensors depend on the ability to control material composition at a nano/micro-metric level. Nanostructures, such as nanowires and nanowire-based heterostructures, are key components of sensing devices due to their particular properties which include crystallinity, flexibility, conductivity, optical activity and high aspect ratio properties. Advanced materials, such as noble metals, and devices can also improve the stability and sensitivity of sensors in different modalities.

Smart sensors capture data from preferred environments and transform specific physical properties into measurable electrical signals; depending on the functional complexities and increased feature demands, a system may employ multiple sensors of different capabilities. Multimodal platforms that combine physical and chemical sensing capabilities with wireless functionality can provide precise, clinical-grade assessments of health status and disease conditions outside of hospital or laboratory settings for example. Sensors can identify hazardous gases among a mixture of gases or can be used to monitor hand hygiene compliance or occupancy limits.

Rapid growth in smart, portable and wearable chemical sensing devices, along with the development of reliable devices for the detection of chemicals, gases and vapors are essential. Combined with the possibility of correlating sensing data with health and wealth, sensors can assist with the provision of analysed systems for food, the environment and human wellbeing.

The special issue is focused on “advanced materials including micro-, nano-structures for chemical and physical sensors" with the aim to present the most recent research and development in the materials and sensing domain. In particular, we solicit both research and review papers focusing onthe development of functional nanomaterials and micro-, nanostructures for sensing applications, micro-, nanosensing systems, multimodal sensing platforms and novel concepts in sensor and materials design.

Topics covered:

• Advanced sensor materials
• Functional interfaces for sensing
• Microstructural analysis for sensor
• Catalysts for sensing
• Carbon-based sensors
• Gas sensors
• Environmetal sensors

Important Deadlines:

• Submissions open: 5 October 2020
• Submission deadline: 30 April 2021

Submission Instructions:

Please read the Guide for Authors before submitting. All articles should be submitted online, please select VSI: Advanced Materials and micro-, nano-structures on submission.

Guest Editors:

• Dr. Kunal Mondal, Idaho National Laboratory, USA. Email: kunal.mondal@inl.gov
• Dr. Ankur Gupta, Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, India. Email: ankurgupta@iitj.ac.in
• Dr. Sungjune Park, Jeonbuk National University, South Korea. Email: s.park@jbnu.ac.kr
• Dr. Joseph Andrews, University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA. Email:joseph.andrews@wisc.edu