Point-of-Use Detection of Amphetamine-Type Stimulants with Host-Molecule-Functionalized Organic Transistors

In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in the abuse of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS). One way to tackle this problem is to develop an easy, sensitive, rapid, and cheap ATS detection platform. Here, a strategy that synergistically combines the selectivity of supramolecular chemistry and the sensitivity of organic field-effect transistors is used as the basis of an ATS sensor. Cucurbit[7]uril derivatives that can selectively detect ATS have been synthesized and used as a functional material. The fabricated amperometric sensors exhibited unprecedented sensitivity toward ATS, with a detection limit of nanomolar concentrations in urine and picomolar concentrations in water or a physiologic buffer. The feasibility of this strategy was further demonstrated through the preparation of flexible and wearable devices with a wireless sensing platform. This sensing system offers rapid and sensitive detection of trace amounts of ATS in urine and other samples at the point of use.