Role of diaminonaphthalene based polymers as sensors in detection of biomolecules: A review

Abstract The recent advancements in the synthetic polymer chemistry have resulted in synthesis of potentially distinct conducting polymers that have found a wide range of applications from industry to biology. Among various conducting polymers, poly (diaminonaphthalene) (PDAN) and its derivatives have emerged as promising materials in constructing bio/chemical sensors and shown potential in quantitative and qualitative assays of a variety of bioactive molecules. It is, however, surprising that in spite of having unusual physicochemical properties of this typical polymer and its monomers, no comprehensive information about their sensing properties are available in the literature either as review articles or monographs. The present review article highlights a broad scenario of diaminonaphthalene (DAN) and its polymer-based nanostructured bio/chemical sensors providing insights into their functioning, structural composition, fabrication through various polymerization routes, and eventual applications in sensing different type of biochemically active molecules. Moreover, PDAN based Dual Gate Organic Field Effect Transistor has been modeled and substantially reviewed for their applications in sensing the biomolecules. The underlying present challenges in the area of PDAN based biochemical sensors and their future prospects have been critically examined and several issues to be addressed have also been raised.