Self-Assembly in Sensor Nanotechnology

Self-assembled fluorescent molecules are powerful materials for wide-ranging applications, particularly for analyte sensing and optical imaging. Much research has gone into the development of new fluorogenic molecular probes; however, supramolecular architectures of molecular assemblies have not been fully explored. Fluorescent molecules and functional dyes are the ideal candidates for the design of supramolecular sensors since their fluorescence can be significantly modulated by self-assembly and analyte interaction. Various strategies such as molecular recognition and sensing without altering the self-assembly, and analyte-induced disassembly and morphology variations have been used for the generation of a measurable signal, resulting in the sensing and quantification of a required analyte. Herein, we discuss the recent developments on fluorescent supramolecular assemblies in sensor nanotechnology and highlight their potential application.