Fabrication of a novel hydrogel-based microfluidic chip and its application in pathogen analysis

Herein, we develop a novel hydrogel-based microfluidic chip, which can serve as a multifunctional analytical platform. The chip was fabricated through a newly developed hydrogel material, which shows satisfactory properties such as fast forming speed and good hydrophilicity. The chip mainly consists of two independent functional parts: a chromogenic layer and a microfluidic layer. The specially-designed toothed structure in the microfluidic layer can promote surface interactions and realize efficient enrichment of the target. The chromogenic layer contains chromogenic media, which can achieve rapid target identification through a simple visual readout. As a proof of concept, the proposed chip is employed for pathogen analysis. It shows satisfactory performance for efficient enrichment of Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7. On the other hand, the visual detection limit of the chip for E. coli O157:H7 can reach 10 cfu mL^-1. It is believed that this work could provide a valuable reference for chip material exploitation and application.