Design and Diverse applications of versatile hierarchically highly porous PolyHIPEs towards promising substrates for site directed immunosensor

Abstract

In the recent years, solid foams synthesized from high internal phase emulsion HIPE, labelled as polyHIPEs, have attracted unprecedented attention since their first discovery in the 80 s. In principle, HIPEs are generated by mixing of two immiscible liquids with more than 74 % of internal phase in the presence of an adequate surfactant. Upon polymerization of the monomers in the external phase, polyHIPE with highly porous and rigid structure is formed. Accordingly, different classes of materials, ranging from co-polymers, interpenetrating polymer networks (IPN), or semi-IPN to inorganic decorated structures can be generated. It is worth noting that it is possible to transform on purpose such materials into porous and conductive carbon foams by pyrolysis. Moreover, as powerful improvement pathways in terms of selectivity and sensitivity, several approaches and procedures for immobilizing task-specific recognition functions as thin layer onto the surface of polyHIPE based materials have been used. This set of polyHIPE derived materials have been applied to a wide spectrum of applications, such as, separation and gas storage, catalysis and biomedical application among others. Via this review, our utmost aim is to highlight recent advancements in the understanding of different aspects of polyHIPE as promising sensing platforms for development of electrochemical sensors and biosensors.