A carbon nanotube integrated microfluidic device for blood plasma extraction

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Engineering
• Nanotechnology
• Microfluidics

Background:

• Plasma contains vital biomarkers for disease diagnosis and monitoring.
• Conventional plasma extraction methods require bulky equipment, hindering portable applications.
• Miniaturization of plasma extraction is crucial for developing point-of-care devices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a miniaturized microfluidic device for efficient plasma extraction from human blood.
• To integrate nanomaterial synthesis with microfabrication for enhanced device performance.
• To utilize aligned carbon nanotubes for effective blood cell separation.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a microfluidic device featuring a double-spiral channel.
• Growth of aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with ~80 nm inter-tubular distances, creating ~93% porosity.
• Implementation of cross-flow filtration using the CNT-based microchannel for plasma separation.

Main Results:

• The microfluidic device successfully separated plasma from whole blood by trapping blood cells.
• High porosity (~93%) of the aligned CNTs facilitated efficient filtration.
• Albumin recovery efficiency reached approximately 80%.

Conclusions:

• The study demonstrates the first integration of biocompatible nitrogen-doped CNT (CNxCNT) arrays for plasma extraction.
• The developed microfluidic device offers an efficient and miniaturized solution for plasma separation.
• This advancement expands the bio-application potential of carbon nanotubes in diagnostics.