Biomimetic functional material-based sensors for food safety analysis: A review

Food may be contaminated by various hazardous substances in all stages of the food supply chain, which may pose a wide variety of human health risks. The ability to construct sensors capable of highly selective analysis in complex food matrix could offer strong support for guaranteeing food safety. The design, preparation, and introduction of biomimetic functional materials as antifouling materials or recognition receptors provide new ideas for further improvement of the anti-interference and specificity of sensory system. Herein, biomimetic functional materials commonly used in sensor preparation, including biomimetic antifouling materials [poly(ethylene glycol), zwitterionic polymers, and synthetic antifouling peptides] and biomimetic recognition receptors (molecularly imprinted polymers, aptamers, and mimetic recognition peptides) are reviewed. The mechanisms, advantages, limitations of these biomimetic functional materials and the applications of biomimetic functional material-based sensors in food safety analysis are summarized. Finally, the challenges and prospects of sensors based on biomimetic functional materials are analyzed.