Enzyme Method-Based Microfluidic Chip for the Rapid Detection of Copper Ions

Abstract

Metal ions in high concentrations can pollute the marine environment. Human activities and industrial pollution are the causes of Cu2+ contamination. Here, we report our discovery of an enzyme method-based microfluidic that can be used to rapidly detect Cu2+ in seawater. In this method, Cu2+ is reduced to Cu+ to inhibit horseradish peroxidase (HRP) activity, which then results in the color distortion of the reaction solution. The chip provides both naked eye and spectrophotometer modalities. Cu2+ concentrations have an ideal linear relationship, with absorbance values ranging from 3.91 nM to 256 μM. The proposed enzyme method-based microfluidic chip detects Cu2+ with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.87 nM. Other common metal ions do not affect the operation of the chip. The successful detection of Cu2+ was achieved using three real seawater samples, verifying the ability of the chip in practical applications. Furthermore, the chip realizes the functions of two AND gates in series and has potential practical implementations in biochemical detection and biological computing.

Microfluidic Wearable Devices for Sports Applications

“…Production is complete, and it has been confirmed by testing that the enzyme-based microfluidic chip provides two methods of reading out signals. It can be used to accurately calculate the concentration of Cu 2+ [ 18 ]. This approach facilitates the acquisition of real-time insights into their physiological states [ 19 , 20 , 21 ].…”

“…In the realm of sports science, flexible wearable devices have emerged as indispensable tools. The incorporation of microfluidic chips into these devices offers the potential to mitigate extraneous variables during physical activity, thereby ensuring more precise monitoring outcomes [ 18 ]. The multifaceted wearable devices developed to date, whether tailored for the head, upper limbs, or lower limbs, furnish comprehensive technical support for both athlete training and competitive endeavors.…”

Microfluidics-Based POCT for SARS-CoV-2 Diagnostics

“…How do we address the challenges of POCT in SARS-CoV-2 sensitivity and rapidity detection? Microfluidic chips, also known as lab on a chip (LoC), have the characteristics of rapid detection, low cost, and are an ideal tool for simplifying complex small laboratories processes on a tiny device that can integrate sample handling, analysis and other processes and provide the necessary information from a small number of samples [11][12][13][14][15]. Decades of research into microelectronics and microelectromechanical-systems technology have opened up new avenues for developing microfluidic devices to detect viral infections [16][17][18].…”

Detection of Tomato Ringspot Virus Based on Microfluidic Impedance Sensor

“…The greatest advantage of microfluidic chips is the creation of a controlled microenvironment that precisely drives and controls microfluidic flow in microchannels, resulting in increased detection sensitivity. In addition, all analytical processes, including sample preparation, reaction, separation and detection are integrated into a single microfluidic chip, facilitating instant detection in the field [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Meanwhile, microfluidic impedance sensors consisting of this technology combined with electrochemical impedance detection methods, impedance-based biosensors [ 12 ], as a type of electrochemical biosensors, have shown their good advantages in terms of speed, accuracy and sensitivity in the detection of pathogens in the field [ 13 ].…”