Conjugated copolymers (CCPs) are a class of polymers with excellent optical luminescent and electrical conducting properties because of their extensive π conjugation. CCPs have several advantages such as facile synthesis, structural tailorability, processability, and ease of device fabrication by compatible solvents. Electrospinning (ES) is a versatile technique that produces continuous high throughput nanofibers or microfibers and its appropriate synchronization with CCPs can aid in harvesting an ideal sensory nanofiber. The ES-based nanofibrous membrane enables sensors to accomplish ultrahigh sensitivity and response time with the aid of a greater surface-to-volume ratio. This review covers the crucial aspects of designing highly responsive optical sensors that includes synthetic strategies, sensor fabrication, mechanistic aspects, sensing modes, and recent sensing trends in monitoring environmental toxicants, pH, temperature, and humidity. In particular, considerable attention is being paid on classifying the ES-based optical sensor fabrication to overcome remaining challenges such as sensitivity, selectivity, dye leaching, instability, and reversibility.
Keywords: conjugated copolymers; electrospinning; nanofibers; sensors.