Surfactant Sensors for Pharmaceutical/Medical Applications

Abstract

Surfactants are amphiphilic surface-active agents capable of reducing the surface tension between immiscible phases. In addition to the widespread industrial use of surfactants, they can be utilized in sensor development studies. In chromatography applications, surfactants are used in the mobile phase composition to improve solubility. In electrochemical sensors, surfactants enable enhanced electroconductive properties on the electrode surface. Surfactants can also be used as the coating material of the capillary wall in capillary electrophoresis applications to prevent protein adsorption during the analysis. Pharmaceutical analysis occupies a large place in sensor applications in analytical chemistry due to the fact that analyses are carried out in many areas, from the quality control of drugs to the analysis of environmental and biological samples. In addition, sensors are needed for diagnostic and prognostic analyses in medical applications. For this reason, sensors with improved performance and efficiency are important for researchers. This chapter focuses on the advantages of surfactant sensors in pharmaceutical and medical applications. The most recent studies in these areas are evaluated regarding the target analytes, used sensors and surfactants, obtained linear range and limit of detection values, and applied samples.