Vapor-phase deposition of polymers as a simple and versatile technique to generate paper-based microfluidic platforms for bioassay applications

Abstract

Given their simplicity and functionality, paper-based microfluidic systems are considered to be ideal and promising bioassay platforms for use in less developed countries or in point-of-care services. Although a series of innovative techniques have recently been demonstrated for the fabrication of such platforms, development of simple, inexpensive and versatile new strategies are still needed in order to reach their full potential. In this communication, we describe a simple yet facile approach to fabricate paper-based sensor platforms with a desired design through a vapor-phase polymer deposition technique. We also show that the fabricated platforms could be readily employed for the detection of various biological target molecules including glucose, protein, ALP, ALT, and uric acid. The limit of detection for each target molecule was calculated to be 25 mg dL(-1) for glucose, 1.04 g L(-1) for protein, 7.81 unit per L for ALP, 1.6 nmol L(-1) for ALT, and 0.13 mmol L(-1) for uric acid.

pH‐Responsive Aminomethyl Functionalized Poly( p ‐xylylene) Coatings by Chemical Vapor Deposition Polymerization

“…To show this potential application, commercial paper filters were coated with a thin layer of PPX‐AM. Due to the intrinsic properties of the process, CVD is well suited for the coating of paper, for instance in order to protect documents or for the fabrication of paper‐based microfluidic devices …”

“…Due to the intrinsic properties of the process, CVD is well suited for the coating of paper, for instance in order to protect documents or for the fabrication of paperbased microfluidic devices. [19][20][21][22] Due to the high roughness and low reflectivity of the paper, the thickness of the coating cannot be measured directly using spectroscopic ellipsometry. On a silicon wafer coated together with the paper in the same run, the thickness of the PPX-AM film was 15 nm.…”

Asymmetric, nano‐textured surfaces influence neuron viability and polarity

“…Following the pre‐cleaning steps, substrates were modified with vinyltrimethoxysilane (1.0% (v/v) in toluene for 3 h) to enhance the adhesion of the polymeric films. Polymer deposition was performed using a SCS‐PDS2010 deposition system and a nozzle for directing the monomeric vapor flux as described earlier . The polymer deposition process was started by placing an appropriate amount of (2,2)‐dichloroparacyclophane as a monomer (∼0.3 g) into an evacuated sublimator chamber.…”

Paper-based sensors and assays: a success of the engineering design and the convergence of knowledge areas

“…30 These concomitant developments in multiple areas have provided a better understanding of the interactions between biomolecules, biomolecules-labels, biomolecules and/or reagents and paper surfaces, as well as, their interaction mechanisms and their exploitation for improving the performance of the devices. Actually, paper-based assays have been widely applied in multiple areas 4,6,18 such as medicine 1,38 (clinical monitoring and diagnosis of diseases), [39][40][41][42] veterinary, 43 food industry, [44][45][46] agriculture/aquaculture, 28,47,48 environmental safety [49][50][51] and security, 45,52,53 for a large range of analytes: drugs, 28,44,45,52 markets of illness 54 (e. g. tumoral biomarkers, [55][56][57] cardiovascular biomarkers 58 ), proteins in corporal fluids (BSA, 41 thrombin 59 ), hormones, 60,61 bacteria, 28,32,[62][63][64] virus, [65][66][67][68] and chemical contaminants 50,…”