Table 7.

Examples of biomimetic sensors used for environmental monitoring.

Analyte	Mimetic Structure	Transducer	Target	Sensibility (LOD)	Linearity	Reference
	Heavy metals
Cu2+, Cr3+, Fe3+, Pb2+, Fe2+, Cd2+, Cr6+, Co2+, Zn2+, Ag+, Al3+	Enzyme immobilization Metal phosphates-acetylcholinesterase nanoflowers	Colorimetric	Water	Cu2+—0.81 μM, Cr3+—0.75 μM Al3+—1.06 μM	2.5–500 μM.	[152]
Pb2+	Gold nanoparticles with glutathione linker	UV–vis spectroscopic	Water	47.6 nM (9.9 ppb)	2–14 mM	[153]
Hg2+	Cysteine-decorated ferromagnetic particle (Cys-Fe3O4)	Colorimetric	River water	5.9 pM.	0.02–90 nM	[154]
	Chemicals
Methyl green	Magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer	Square-wave adsorptive anodic stripping voltammetry	River waterIndustrial wastewater	1.0 × 10−8 mol L−1	9.9 × 10−8–1.8 × 10−6 mol L−1	[145]
Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors	Microchannel 1-phenyl-1,2,3-butanetrione 2-oxime (PBO)-based microsensor	Potentiometric	Surface waters used for municipal drinking water supplies	LD50, LC50	2–1360 mg kg−1	[155]
Acetone gas	Zeolitic imidazolate framework-90 polyhedron crystals	quartz crystal microbalance	Air	Lower than 20 ppb	-	[156]
Nitrite ions	Oxo-bridged dinuclear manganese-phenanthroline complex immobilized into an ion-exchange Polymeric film deposited on glassy carbon electrode	Cyclic voltammetry	Environmental samples	6.50 × 10−6 mol L−1	2.49 × 10−6–9.90 × 10−6 mol L−1	[157]
Catechol	Metal-organic frameworks		Water	33 nmol L−1	-	[158]
Urea	Embedding urease and bovine hemoglobin in metal-organic frameworks through biomimetic mineralization	Colorimetric	Sewage	0.02 mM	0.08–20.00 mM	[159]
	Pesticides
Diurone	Carbon paste electrode modified with the nickel(II) 1,4,8,11,15,18,22,25-octabutoxy-29H,31H-phthalocyanine complex	Cyclic voltammetry and amperometry	River water, soil	6.14 × 10−6 mol L−1,	9.9 ×10−6 and 1.5 × 10−4 mol L−1	[160]
Organophosphorus pesticides	Employing a functionalized polyacrylamide, polyhydroxamicalkanoate	Amperometric	Water supply	0.26 μmol L−1	-	[161]
Carbamate	Gold nanoclusters-anchored MnO2 (AuNCs-MnO2) nanocomposite	Fluorimetric/Colorimetric	Soil, water	0.125 µg L−1.	-	[162]
Paraoxon	Cu3(PO4)2·3H2O, AChE and ChO -based lab-on paper platform	Cyclic voltammetry and Colorimetric	Tap and river water	6 fg mL−1	-	[163]
	Toxins
Bacterial toxins	Microcystins inserted into a polymeric matrix	Potentiometric	Water	below the guideline value establishedby WHO	7.24 × 10−10–1.28 × 10−9 M	[150]

Abbreviations: LOD—limit of detection; LD50—lethal dose (50%); LC50—lethal concentration (50%); WHO—World Health Organization; Cys—cysteine.