Covalent organic frameworks (COFs)-based sensors: advances in environmental monitoring, food safety and biomedicine detection

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) represent a groundbreaking class of porous crystalline materials that have attracted considerable attention in sensing applications due to their unique structural advantages. This review systematically examines the recent advances in COFs sensors across three critical domains. Specially, for environmental monitoring, their deployment in the detection of the heavy metal ions and organic pollutants, in the food safety applications were discussed. COFs sensors for the identification of the pesticide residues and microbial contaminants through the distinctive fluorescence quenching and colorimetric mechanisms were also analyzed. The biomedical section highlighted the importance of the COFs platforms for ultrasensitive detection of disease biomarkers via the innovative signal amplification strategies. Beyond the demonstrated superior analytical performance, these COFs sensors offer the transformative practical advantages including the field-deployable operation, the recyclability, and the integration with other devices. The development of COFs sensing technologies can not only provide the immediate solutions for pressing the detection challenges but also establish a new paradigm for designing the next-generation smart sensors with the enhanced selectivity, stability and multifunctionality.