Overview on the Sensing Materials and Methods Based on Reversible Addition–Fragmentation Chain-Transfer Polymerization

Reversible addition–fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization has become an efficient method in the field of polymer synthesis. Recently, the RAFT polymerization technique has been successfully used to prepare functional materials and develop various sensing methods used in different scenarios. The polymerization reaction can be initiated by thermal, electrochemical, photochemical, enzymatic, and mechanical stimulation. More interestingly, RAFT polymerization can be performed in situ by recruiting a large number of signal tags at the solid interface to amplify the signals. In this review, we addressed the latest achievements in the preparation of sensing materials and the design of different sensors based on the RAFT polymerization technique for sensing ions and small molecules and bioimaging of tumor cells and viruses. Then, electrochemical and optical biosensors through the signal amplification of the RAFT polymerization method were summarized. This work could provide inspiration for researchers to prepare fascinating sensing materials and develop novel detection technologies applied in various fields.