Portable, Easy-to-Operate, and Antifouling Microcapsule Array Chips Fabricated by 3D Ice Printing for Visual Target Detection

Abstract

Herein, we proposed a portable, easy-to-operate, and antifouling microcapsule array chip for target detection. This prepackaged chip was fabricated by innovative and cost-effective 3D ice printing integrating with photopolymerization sealing which could eliminate complicated preparation of wet chemistry and effectively resist outside contaminants. Only a small volume of sample (2 μL for each microcapsule) was consumed to fulfill the assay. All the reagents required for the analysis were stored in ice form within the microcapsule before use, which guaranteed the long-term stability of microcapsule array chips. Nitrite and glucose were chosen as models for proof of concept to achieve an instant quantitative detection by naked eyes without the need of external sophisticated instruments. The simplicity, low cost, and small sample consumption endowed ice-printing microcapsule array chips with potential commercial value in the fields of on-site environmental monitoring, medical diagnostics, and rapid high-throughput point-of-care quantitative assay.

Chemical and biochemical analysis on lab-on-a-chip devices fabricated using three-dimensional printing

“…Inspired by soft lithography and surface-machining, an innovative and low-cost soft technology for the construction of microcapsule array chips was developed by prof. Zhang in Peking University [74]. In their research, polymers-based materials were replaced with water as printing ink for 3D ice printing.…”

“…The picture was taken from ref. [74] with permission from the American Chemical Society. Representation of (a) printing method based on FDM, (b) insertion of a paper tip on the printed channel extremity and (c) the coupling of the 3D device with a mass spectrometer.…”

“…The picture in colorimetric method was taken from ref. [74] with permission from American Chemical Society; The picture in EC method was taken from ref. [33] with permission from American Chemical Society; The picture in CL method was taken from ref.…”

Inkjet printing-based fabrication of microscale 3D ice structures

“…This ice structure can then be used in various applications under the ice point. However, in its current form, this ice printing method is limited to simple planar structures close to the substrate, such as microcapsule ice arrays for reagent presealing 24,25 and parallel ice channels for microfluidics 26 . In this paper, we optimized the process parameters to precisely control the growth direction of ice crystals, fully realizing the concept of 3D ice printing.…”

Hollow Microcapsules with Controlled Mechanical Properties Templated from Pickering Emulsion Droplets

“…Hollow microcapsules ranging from submicron to tens of microns have found extensive applications in a variety of fields such as drug delivery, active matter encapsulation, energy storage, self‐healing materials, anti‐fogging coatings, and so on. Hollow microcapsules, with the cavity and shell precisely controlled, can have high loading efficiency, excellent protection and reduced refractive indices which make them essential in the abovementioned fields.…”