Vapor-phase deposition of polymers as a simple and versatile technique to generate paper-based microfluidic platforms for bioassay applications

Abstract

Given their simplicity and functionality, paper-based microfluidic systems are considered to be ideal and promising bioassay platforms for use in less developed countries or in point-of-care services. Although a series of innovative techniques have recently been demonstrated for the fabrication of such platforms, development of simple, inexpensive and versatile new strategies are still needed in order to reach their full potential. In this communication, we describe a simple yet facile approach to fabricate paper-based sensor platforms with a desired design through a vapor-phase polymer deposition technique. We also show that the fabricated platforms could be readily employed for the detection of various biological target molecules including glucose, protein, ALP, ALT, and uric acid. The limit of detection for each target molecule was calculated to be 25 mg dL⁻¹ for glucose, 1.04 g L⁻¹ for protein, 7.81 unit per L for ALP, 1.6 nmol L⁻¹ for ALT, and 0.13 mmol L⁻¹ for uric acid.