Food, Medical, and Environmental Applications of Polysaccharides: Chapter 13 - Biosensors

Biosensors are important devices that convert the biological impulse in an electrical signal and have been used for a wide variety of applications ranging from environmental to agriculture and biomedicine. Natural polysaccharides have been widely applied in the biosensor field due to their remarkable structural and functional properties such as biocompatibility, film-forming capability, and ability to form three-dimensional networks. Among polysaccharides, cellulose is the most abundant natural biopolymer and exhibits excellent characteristics including high functionality, flexibility, high mechanical strength, biodegradability, hydrophilicity, and low-cost. This chapter summarizes recent developments on polysaccharide-based biosensors with a focus on cellulose and cellulose derivatives.