Low-Cost Passive Sampling Device with Integrated Porous Membrane Produced Using Multimaterial 3D Printing.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Multimaterial 3D printing enables complex device fabrication with diverse material properties.
• Passive samplers are crucial for environmental monitoring of contaminants.
• Existing passive samplers can be costly and may require additional sealing components.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate low-cost passive sampler devices with integrated porous membranes using multimaterial fused deposition modeling (MM-FDM) 3D printing.
• To evaluate the performance of these 3D printed passive samplers for extracting a model solute (atrazine).
• To compare the efficiency of the 3D printed samplers with traditional devices.

Main Methods:

• Utilized MM-FDM 3D printing with polylactic acid and Poro-Lay Lay-Felt filament for device and membrane fabrication.
• Characterized the porous membrane material using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to determine pore size.
• Assessed atrazine extraction efficiency and chemical leaching using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated passive samplers with integrated porous membranes (average pore size ~30 nm).
• The 0.5 mm thick membrane sampler demonstrated high performance: 87% atrazine depletion and a sampling rate of 0.19 Ld⁻¹.
• Results closely matched those obtained with standard poly(ether sulfone) membranes, indicating comparable efficiency.

Conclusions:

• MM-FDM 3D printing is a viable method for producing cost-effective passive samplers with integrated porous membranes.
• The developed 3D printed samplers offer efficient contaminant extraction comparable to conventional methods.
• This technology presents a promising advancement for environmental monitoring applications.