Nanomaterials in carbohydrate biosensors

• Nanomaterials make sensitive, selective detection of carbohydrates possible.
• Recent advances in nanomaterials for construction of carbohydrate biosensors.
• These nanomaterials also include upconverting NPs, composite nanomaterials and nanopores.
• Carbohydrate biosensors in profiling carbohydrate-lectin interaction.
• Carbohydrate biosensors in cancer and pathogen detection, glycosylation analysis.

Nanomaterials have received much attention for their fascinating catalytic activity, large surface area, and excellent photonic and electronic features. These characteristic properties have been used to improve the sensitivity and the specificity of biosensors. This article reviews nanomaterials, including metal nanoparticles (NPs), carbon materials, quantum dots, magnetic NPs and silicon NPs, and evaluates their different functions when applied to the construction of carbohydrate biosensors. Furthermore, we discuss specialized nanomaterials, e.g., photo-to-electron conversion nanomaterials, upconverting NPs, composite nanomaterials and nanopores. Finally, we present applications of nanomaterial-based carbohydrate biosensors, including profiling of carbohydrate-lectin interaction, cancer-cell and pathogen detection, and glycosylation analysis.