Rapid prototyping of paper-based microfluidics with wax for low-cost, portable bioassay

Here we present a simple and low-cost production method to generate paper-based microfluidic devices with wax for portable bioassay. The wax patterning method we introduced here included three different ways: (i) painting with a wax pen, (ii) printing with an inkjet printer followed by painting with a wax pen, (iii) printing by a wax printer directly. The whole process was easy to operate and could be finished within 5-10 min without the use of a clean room, UV lamp, organic solvent, etc. Horse radish peroxidase, BSA and glucose assays were conducted to verify the performance of wax-patterned paper.