Lateral-flow immunoassay devices, incorporating thermally-imprinted microcone array structures, have been developed for detecting disease marker proteins.

Lateral flow immunoassay devices have revolutionized the style of on-site disease detection and point-of-care testing in the past few decades. The surface nanotopography of a solid substrate is a dominant parameter in the efficiency of antibody immobilization, but precise control over surface roughness has not been fully investigated. Here we presented lateral flow immunoassay platforms with nanometer-scale surface roughness, reproducibly engineered using thermal nanoimprinting lithography, and investigated the effects of surface nanotopography on immunoadsorption and immunoassay performance. We fabricated three types of imprinted polycarbonate sheets with microcone array structures having different degrees of surface roughness using three types of molds fabricated by micromachining or laser ablation. The structures fabricated by laser-ablated nickel mold exhibited numerous bumps measuring several tens of nanometers, which enhanced antibody adsorption. We performed sandwich immunoassays of C-reactive protein in serum samples and achieved highly sensitive detection with a detection limit of ∼0.01 μg mL–1 and a broad dynamic range. The present results provide useful information on the remarkable effect of nanoengineered surfaces on biomolecule adsorption, and the platforms presented here will widen the applicability and versatility of lateral flow immunoassay devices.

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The creep properties of tin-based, lead-free solders, Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu and Sn-7.5Zn-3.0Bi, were investigated for the temperature range from 298 K to 398 K. The creep rupture time decreases with increasing initial stress and temperature. The Omega method is applied to the analysis of the solder creep curves. The creep rate _ e is expressed by the following formula: ln _ e ¼ ln _ e 0 þ Xe, where _ e 0 and X are experimentally determined. The parameter _ e 0 , the imaginary initial strain rate, increases with increasing initial stress and temperature. The parameter X is temperature dependent, but less dependent on the initial stress. The apparent activation energy for _ e 0 is 108 kJ/mol in Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu and 83 kJ/mol in Sn-7.5Zn-3.0Bi. These values are close to the activation energy for the lattice diffusion of tin. The creep rupture time is calculated using the parameters _ e 0 and X. The calculated creep rupture time is in good agreement with the measured creep rupture time.