BACKGROUND: The 3D printing is relevant as a manufacturing technology of functional models for forensic, pharmaceutical and bioanalytical applications such as drug delivery systems, sample preparation and point-of-care tests. OBJECTIVE: Melting behavior and autofluorescence of materials are decisive for optimal printing and applicability of the product which are influenced by varying unknown additives. METHODS: We have produced devices for bioanalytical applications from commercially available thermoplastic polymers using a melt-layer process. We characterized them by differential scanning calorimetry, fluorescence spectroscopy and functional assays (DNA capture assay, model for cell adhesion, bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation test). RESULTS: From 14 tested colored, transparent and black materials we found only deep black acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and some black polylactic acid (PLA) useable for fluorescence-based assays, with low autofluorescence only in the short-wave range of 300-400 nm. PLA was suitable for standard bioanalytical purposes due to a glass transition temperature of approximately 60 • C, resistance to common laboratory chemicals and easy print processing. For temperature-critical methods, such as hybridization reactions up to 90 • C, ABS was better suited. CONCLUSIONS: Autofluorescence was not a disadvantage per se but can also be used as a reference signal in assays. The rapid development of individual protocols for sample processing and analysis required the availability of a material with consistent quality over time. For fluorescence-based assays, the use of commercial standard materials did not seem to meet this requirement.

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Filtration is one of the most used technologies in chemical engineering. Development of computer technology and computational mathematics made it possible to explore such processes by mathematical modeling and computational methods. The article deals with the study of suspension filtration in a porous medium with modified deposition kinetics. It is suggested that deposition is formed in two types, reversible and irreversible. The model of suspension filtration in porous media consists of the mass balance equation and kinetic equations for each type of deposition. The model includes dynamic factors and multi-stage deposition kinetics. By using the symmetricity of porous media, the higher dimensional cases are reduced to the one-dimensional case. To solve the problem, a stable, effective and simple numerical algorithm is proposed based on the finite difference method. Sufficient conditions for stability of schemes are found. Based on numerical results, influences of dynamic factors on solid particle transport and deposition characteristics are analyzed. It is shown that the dynamic factors mainly affect the profiles of changes in the concentration of deposition of the active zone.

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In this paper, a problem of anomalous solute transport in a coaxial cylindrical two-zone porous medium with fractal structure is posed and numerically solved. The porous medium is studied in the form of cylinder with two parts: macropore—with high permeability characteristics in the central part and micropore—with low permeability around it. Anomalous solute transport is modeled by differential equations with a fractional derivative. The solute concentration and pressure fields are determined. Based on numerical results, the influence of the fractional derivatives order on the solute transport process is analysed. It was shown that with a decrease in the order of the derivatives in the diffusion term of the transport equation in the macropore leads to a “fast diffusion” in both zones. Characteristics of the solute transport in both zones mainly depend on the concentration distribution and other hydrodynamic parameters in the macropore.