Review—Nanostructured Materials for Sensing pH: Evolution, Fabrication and Challenges

Abstract

pH sensors with broad applications are in high demand in a variety of fields, including agriculture, healthcare, food processing, textiles, leathers, wet laboratories, and environmental remediation. The majority of pH-related reviews have concentrated on various polymers and metal oxide-based sensing materials, as well as fabrication techniques. However, considerations regarding the context of subsequent pH-sensing platform advancements in terms of materials and technologies with commercial viability must be addressed. Furthermore, the rapid advancement of traditional pH sensors toward nanostructured sensing configurations provides a number of advantages over traditional pH sensors, such as increased sensitivity with larger surface-to-volume ratio, improved stability, faster reaction time, and consistent stability. As a result, we reviewed the evolution of nanostructured pH sensing materials as well as their fabrication methodologies in this paper. Additionally, the inherent challenges and future work required for commercially viable nanostructured pH-sensing platforms are discussed.