Functionalised microfluidic devices for sensing applications

Microfluidic devices are capable of performing quantitative analysis of small volumes of liquid (on the sub-microlitre scale), to detect specific chemical species. This technology opens the door for 'lab-on-chip' devices, where experiments that traditionally require large quantities of expensive, specialised equipment could be achieved with similar accuracy and precision on a small, portable chip. This could include, for example, the detection of specific blood components (such as early cancer markers, glucose levels, antibodies or viral infections), within a single drop of blood.
The techniques of 3D-printing and aerosol-jet printing (AJP) [1] facilitate low-cost rapid prototyping of microfluidic devices [2], so will be utilised and developed throughout this project. The focus will be the 'functionalisation' of microfluidic channels through the integration of nanomaterials which would allow for dynamic and spatially resolved control of the channel properties. This will be facilitated by a combination of 3D-printing and AJP, which can print a wide range of materials with a lateral resolution down to 10 um. In this project, AJP will also be used to develop the implementation of sensing based on electrical detection techniques integrated within microfluidic devices. This will remove the current need for marker-based optical detection methods, which are cumbersome and require significant laboratory equipment external to the microfluidic device itself.


References:
[1] M Smith et al, Controlling and assessing the quality of aerosol jet printed features for large area and flexible electronics, 2017 Flex. Print. Electron. 2 015004, https://doi.org/10.1088/2058-8585/aa5af9
[2] N Catic et al, Aerosol-jet printing facilitates the rapid prototyping of microfluidic devices with versatile geometries and precise channel functionalization, 2020 Appl. Mater. Today 19 100618, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmt.2020.100618