New optofluidic based lab-on-a-chip device for the real-time fluoride analysis

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Fluoride ion detection is crucial for environmental monitoring and public health.
• Conventional methods for fluoride analysis are often time-consuming and require complex instrumentation.
• There is a need for rapid, sensitive, and portable methods for real-time fluoride monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a highly sensitive and selective optofluidic Lab-on-a-chip device for real-time quantitative measurement of fluoride ions.
• To synthesize and characterize a novel colorimetric probe for fluoride ion detection.
• To evaluate the performance of the developed device using real samples.

Main Methods:

• Integration of a Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic channel with a UV-vis fibre-optic spectrometer.
• Design of an 'S'-shaped microchannel as a microreactor for continuous reaction between the colorimetric probe and fluoride ions.
• Utilizing a synthesized colorimetric probe with specific functional groups (-OH, -NH, -NO2) for selective fluoride binding and color change.

Main Results:

• The developed colorimetric probe demonstrated high sensitivity and selectivity for fluoride ions, with a detection limit of 0.79 ppm.
• The optofluidic Lab-on-a-chip device enabled real-time quantitative measurement of fluoride ions.
• The device successfully detected fluoride ions in real samples, showing performance superior to conventional methods.

Conclusions:

• The novel optofluidic Lab-on-a-chip device offers a sensitive, selective, and portable solution for real-time fluoride ion analysis.
• The developed system provides advantages such as low sample consumption and rapid analysis.
• This technology has broad applicability across various sectors requiring fluoride monitoring.