Micromolded Carbon Paste Microelectrodes for Electrogenerated Chemiluminescent Detection on Microfluidic Devices

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Micromolded carbon paste electrodes offer advantages like low cost, disposability, and integration into microfluidic systems.
• Electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) sensors are valuable tools for sensitive analyte detection.
• Developing efficient and inexpensive ECL sensors is crucial for various analytical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate and optimize micromolded carbon paste electrodes for electrogenerated chemiluminescent (ECL) sensing.
• To integrate these electrodes into microfluidic devices for enhanced sensor performance.
• To demonstrate the utility of these sensors for detecting specific analytes and enzymatic reactions.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of carbon paste microelectrodes using micromolding in poly(dimethylsiloxane).
• Integration of microelectrodes into microfluidic channels to create ECL sensors.
• Optimization of sensor fabrication and experimental parameters for two ECL systems: Ru(bpy)3(2+)/TPrA and H2O2/luminol.

Main Results:

• Optimized ECL sensors demonstrated a limit of detection (LOD) of ~2.4 μM for tripropylamine (TPrA) with a linear range of 10-100 μM.
• For hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), the LOD was ~11 μM and the linear response range was 30-200 μM.
• Successfully fabricated glucose oxidase-modified biosensors, enabling indirect glucose detection through enzymatic H2O2 generation.

Conclusions:

• Micromolded carbon paste electrodes are a viable and cost-effective platform for developing disposable ECL sensors.
• The developed microfluidic-integrated ECL sensors exhibit high sensitivity and are suitable for detecting small molecules and enzymatic products.
• This fabrication method provides a versatile approach for creating advanced biosensing devices for various applications.