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Cellulose acetate microwell plates for high-throughput colorimetric assays
Gabriela B Gomez-Dopazo1, Renis J Agosto Nieves1, Rolando L Albarracín Rivera1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico at Cayey 205 Ave. Antonio R Barcelo Cayey PR-00736 USA vibha.bansal@upr.edu.
RSC Advances
|May 14, 2024
Summary
Researchers developed greener cellulose acetate microwell plates as a sustainable alternative to polystyrene for colorimetric assays. These plates, used with smartphone readers, offer comparable results to traditional methods, reducing plastic waste in labs.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Analytical Chemistry
- Environmental Science
Background:
- Single-use plasticware, particularly polystyrene (PS) microwell plates, significantly contributes to global plastic waste in scientific laboratories.
- PS microwell plates are essential for high-throughput colorimetric assays in research, diagnostics, and healthcare for analyte quantification.
- Current PS plates are rarely reused or recycled, exacerbating the plastic waste problem in scientific settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate cellulose acetate (CA) microwell plates as an environmentally friendly alternative to polystyrene plates for colorimetric assays.
- To demonstrate the utility of CA plates in various biochemical assays and their compatibility with smartphone-based readers.
- To provide a greener, accessible, and scalable solution for laboratory analyses, especially in resource-limited environments.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of cellulose acetate (CA) microwell plates in 96- and 384-well formats, with chemical treatment to ensure water impermeability.
- Application of CA plates in three colorimetric assays: bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay for protein quantification, chymotrypsin (CT) activity assay, and alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity assay.
- Quantification of color intensities using a smartphone application (Spotxel® Reader) and comparison with results from commercial PS plates read by a UV/Vis microplate reader.
Main Results:
- Cellulose acetate microwell plates were successfully fabricated and demonstrated to be water impermeable.
- CA plates performed comparably to commercial polystyrene plates in BCA, CT, and AP activity assays.
- Analysis using a smartphone reader showed comparable linear correlation coefficients, LOD, and LOQ values to traditional UV/Vis microplate readers.
Conclusions:
- Cellulose acetate microwell plates offer a viable, greener alternative to polystyrene plates for colorimetric assays.
- The combination of CA plates and smartphone-based readers provides an accessible, scalable, and cost-effective analytical tool.
- This approach significantly contributes to reducing plastic waste in laboratories and is particularly beneficial for resource-limited settings.
