Themed collection Most popular 2025 sensing & imaging articles

The objective of this perspective is to review the high-interest field of wearable polymer-based sensors—from synthesis to use and detection mechanisms—with a focus on their transient nature, potential for reuse, and ultimate fate.

Molecular logic computing toolkits serve as an intelligent engine for next-generation biosensing, enabling programmable and multi-signal analysis for applications from disease diagnostics to cellular logic.

This review systematically summarizes the recent advancements in NO-activated organic molecular probes for near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence, self-luminescence, and photoacoustic (PA) imaging.

Design and fabrication of breathable and antibacterial electronic skin devices, and their application in acquiring physiological signals from the cardiovascular system.

2D-BonFIRE (two-dimensional bond-selective fluorescence-detected infrared-excited) spectro-microscopy encompasses detailed molecular spectroscopy, ultrafast vibrational dynamics, and 16-color super-multiplex imaging.

Heavy-atom-free BODIPY photosensitizer, Cbz-Bth-BDP, features weak yet semi-rigid donors, reducing S₁–T₂ gap, boosting SOC/electron affinity for enhanced ISC, photocatalysis, and pyroptosis activation.

Se-PC, a novel nuclear DNA-targeted type I photosensitizer, exhibits strong DNA affinity and generates superoxide radicals under low-dose light, directly damaging DNA for potent tumor ablation, enhancing PDT efficacy.

This work reports crown ether–CPP hybrid macrocycles with enhanced photophysics, strong fullerene binding, NO₂ sensing, and anticancer/fluorescent bioactivity, showing promise in sensing and biomedical applications.

Ln^III/Ga^III-based dimeric metallacrowns functionalized with four coumarin sensitizers were synthesized. By using excitation light in the visible range, the Nd^III derivative could be used to perform near-infrared II imaging of living HeLa cells.

Aerolysin nanopore was applied as a tool to discriminate the cis and trans isomers of the Xaa-Pro peptide bond at a single-molecule level.

A modular fluorescence probe, phenol-DAOTA, shows fluorescence lifetime sensitivity to weak bases such as glutamate and phosphate. The probe response is based on dynamic quenching due to proton coupled electron transfer (PCET).

Computational screening of a 100-tripeptide nanoparticle library ranked the nanoparticles according to their affinity for the neuroblastoma biomarker 3-methoxytyramine (3-MT). Synthesis and testing confirmed their ability to detect 3-MT at 25 μM.

A novel all-in-one phototheranostics OTAB was synthesized by modifying the donor and regulating the band gap for NIR-II imaging-guided synergistic type-I PDT/PTT therapy.

An endoplasmic reticulum (ER) ·OH fluorescent probe is proposed. Using the probe, the increase of ·OH in the ER during ferroptosis was revealed, and icariside I (a natural flavonoid derivative) was screened for effective inhibition of ferroptosis.

We developed a bipolar electrode-based ECL sensing platform using doping and direct optical crosslinking of semiconductor magic-sized nanoclusters, achieving significant improvements in both ECL intensity and stability.

A chemically modified DNAzyme-based electrochemical sensor was developed for binary and highly sensitive detection of reactive oxygen species.

In celebration of our 15th anniversary and some of our most popular articles, Yu Liu reflects on the area of supramolecular tandem assays, building on a Chemical Science manuscript published in 2011 on this topic [Guo et al. (Chem. Sci., 2011, https://doi.org/10.1039/C1SC00231G)].