Functionalized conjugated polymers and their application in the biological and/or chemical analysis

Conjugated polymers with large, delocalized molecular structure have been widely used in the field of organic electronics, biological and/or chemical sensing, diagnosis and bioimaging due to their unique optical absorption and emission characteristics. Conjugated polymers functionalized by special groups, such as glycosyl, biotin, carboxyl, amino acid, peptide, nucleic acid, antibody, amino, thiol and so on, have ability to recognize certain biomolecules or heavy metal ions. Here, we review the recent development of functionalized conjugated polymer and their application in the biological and/or chemical analysis on the basis of functional groups of different types. Methods for functionalization of conjugated polymers, the application in the detection of proteins, pathogens, Hg²⁺ and Pb²⁺, and future development of this area are also included.