Advanced Fluorescence Biosensors

Dear Colleagues,

In the context of the technological development of sensors, the advent of biosensors has represented the keystone towards the creation of integrated, low-cost, user-friendly, and high-performance devices, capable of detecting the presence of chemical/biochemical agents in a wide range of matrices (i.e., from biological samples to environmental ones to food). This has allowed for a reduction in both costs and response times linked to the use of conventional analysis centers. When compared with similar integrated devices based on other transduction mechanisms, optical biosensors present a higher value of the signal-to-noise ratio by virtue of their complete immunity to any electro-magnetic interference coming from the external environment and high intrinsic safety thanks to the dielectric nature of the measurement probe.

Among the approaches used by optical biosensors, those that make use of fluorescent markers have acquired progressive and growing interest over the last few decades thanks to the possibility of obtaining operationally simple devices, capable of providing a fast response and high performance. In the race towards ever greater sensitivity and lower detection limits, different strategies—based on the amplification and optimization of the fluorescence signal collection and the mitigation of noise—are becoming progressivey more established.

The aim of this Special Issue is to host innovative and perspective contributions regarding these advanced strategies for the development of increasingly high-performance fluorescence biosensors.

Original research and review papers in this wide field will be considered, including but not limited to:

• Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR)-based fluorescence biosensors;
• Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based biosensors;
• Metal enhanced fluorescence (MEF)-based biosensors;
• Optical biosensors based on nanomaterials for fluorophores/quenchers;
• Upconversion-based fluorescence biosensors;
• Fluorescence-based Point of Care Testing (POCT) and Lab on Chip (LoC) devices for biosensing;
• Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF) phenomenon for improving fluorescence signal collection in optical biosensors;
• Optical/optofluidic microcavities for fluorescence biosensing;
• Optical fiber-based fluorescence biosensors.

Dr. Simone Berneschi
Dr. Cosimo Trono
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biosensors is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• fluorescence
• biosensors
• label-based biosensors
• förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)
• metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF)
• total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF)
• nanomaterials
• upconversion
• optical microcavities
• optical fibers