Paper‐Based Electrochemical Sensors and How to Make Them (Work)

Abstract

Paper‐based devices are said to be easy to make and use. It is true, if you know how. We hope this Review will help people that are new to the field but also those more experienced who want to add some new functionalities to their systems. Tips and common pitfalls are provided in each section as well as references to recommended reading material. Paper devices have been in development for around two millennia, in one form or the other, and ingenious solutions can be borrowed from the world of paper toys, or closer to electrochemistry paper electronics developed from the 1960’ onwards. Small projects on such systems can become a good practice even in laboratories not working on disposable sensors and low‐cost diagnostics as paper‐based devices are a great way to introduce new students to lab work and teach problem solving. We would also like to show that paper indeed has real life applications and is more than just a good keyword but with the number of publications on the topic, it might not always be easy to distinguish the advances from the background noise.

Ion Transfer Voltammetry with an Electrochemical Pen

“… 59 In the last 15 years, the scientific community has taken a real interest in such lab-on-paper systems, which has resulted in the rapid growth of the number of publications. 60 Here, we demonstrate the unique capability of the electrochemical pen setup to combine paper-based flow injection with ion transfer at the ITIES.…”

Origami Paper-Based Electrochemical (Bio)Sensors: State of the Art and Perspective

“…In the last 10 years, the research activity in this sector has had a rapid grown, attested by several reviews [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ]. In 2020, a number of reviews appeared demonstrating that this is a hot topic, and if the first reviews are more general, the last ones are more particular such as potentiometric paper-based devices [ 28 ], attesting to the higher numbers of the articles published in this field.…”

Single-Use Fluidic Electrochemical Paper-Based Analytical Devices Fabricated by Pen Plotting and Screen-Printing for On-Site Rapid Voltammetric Monitoring of Pb(II) and Cd(II)

“…As a result of recent advances, different types of PADs have been developed for application in various fields [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. Among the multitude of existing PADs, those that employ electrochemical detection (so-called ePADs) have attracted considerable attention [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]. In the context of ePADs, the most critical steps in the fabrication procedure are the patterning of the hydrophobic barriers and the formation of electrodes.…”

“…In the context of ePADs, the most critical steps in the fabrication procedure are the patterning of the hydrophobic barriers and the formation of electrodes. The most widely used methodologies for creating hydrophobic patterns on paper are wax printing, inkjet printing and lithography [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]. However, pen-on-paper methodologies using commercial permanent marker pens offer some important advantages: they do not require pre- or post-fabrication treatment (heating or curing), make use of low cost equipment and commercially available writing stationery, and provide greater flexibility in the selection of the functional material and fabrication conditions [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ].…”

“…However, pen-on-paper methodologies using commercial permanent marker pens offer some important advantages: they do not require pre- or post-fabrication treatment (heating or curing), make use of low cost equipment and commercially available writing stationery, and provide greater flexibility in the selection of the functional material and fabrication conditions [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. Regarding the formation of electrodes on PADs, many fabrication routes exist [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]; among these, screen-printing offers an attractive alternative due to its operational flexibility [ 35 ].…”