Fig. 1

Nanosensor design schematic. First, a class and subsequently a specific contaminant of interest is selected (i). The contaminants discussed in this review are denoted with an asterisk. Next, the number of analytes to be detected by the sensor is chosen (ii) and then the probe is designed. A nanoprobe consists of two core elements, a signal transduction method and at least one nanomaterial, and may also include a recognition element (iii). Ultimately, the sensor deployment format is selected (iv)