Nanostructured CaCO₃-poly(ethyleneimine) microparticles for phenol sensing in fluidic microsystem

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Phenol contamination poses environmental and health risks.
• Existing phenol detection methods can be costly and complex.
• Development of sensitive, low-cost biosensors is crucial for environmental monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, low-cost, and highly sensitive biosensor for phenol detection.
• To utilize nanostructured calcium carbonate-poly(ethyleneimine) microparticles in a microfluidic system.
• To create a disposable and mass-producible platform for phenol sensing.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a PDMS/glass fluidic microchip.
• Modification of screen-printed electrodes with CaCO₃-PEI microparticles and tyrosinase.
• Enzyme immobilization using glutaraldehyde cross-linking.
• Electrochemical detection of phenol at low concentrations.

Main Results:

• The developed biosensor achieved high sensitivity for phenol detection, down to 10 nM.
• The system demonstrated excellent repeatability and a low detection limit.
• The microfluidic microsystem proved to be inexpensive, disposable, and easy to fabricate.

Conclusions:

• The CaCO₃-PEI microparticle-based biosensor offers a promising solution for sensitive and affordable phenol detection.
• The developed fluidic microsystem is suitable for environmental monitoring and has potential for mass production.
• This strategy provides a simple and effective platform for detecting low phenol concentrations.