Light-Addressable Photoelectrochemical Sensors for High-Throughput and Multiplex Detection: Principles, Applications, and Future Perspectives

Light-addressable photoelectrochemical sensors (LAPECS) have gained increasing attention as a promising platform for multiplexed detection owing to their integration of photo-addressing and photoelectrochemical techniques. By using programmable illumination to confine photoinduced electron transfer to specific electrode regions, this straightforward strategy enables high-throughput and multiplexed detection and has shown promise in biomedical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, and food safety analysis. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the fundamental principles and the structural and functional components of LAPECS. This review also summarizes three representative operational modes: multi-electrode parallel, single-electrode multi-channel partitioning, and microarray chip-based modes. We further discuss emerging solutions, including advanced recognition interfaces, miniaturized designs, and machine learning-assisted data processing, to address current challenges in LAPECS, such as limited specificity, signal interference, and integration complexity. Finally, the current research challenges and future prospects of LAPECS are discussed.