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Nano Research 2017, 10(7): 2296-2310 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-016-1420-3
Research Article | Issue | Published: 01 March 2017

Toward integrated detection and graphene-based removal of contaminants in a lab-on-a-chip platform

Show Author's Information Andrzej Chałupniak1,  Arben Merkoçi1,2( )
Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2)CSIC and The Barcelona Institute of Science and TechnologyCampus UABBellaterra08193Barcelona, Spain
ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 2308010Barcelona, Spain
Keywords:
graphene oxide, electrochemistry, microfluidics, flame retardants, lab on a chip, polydimethylsiloxane
Cite this article:
Chałupniak A, Merkoçi A. Toward integrated detection and graphene-based removal of contaminants in a lab-on-a-chip platform. Nano Research, 2017, 10(7): 2296-2310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-016-1420-3
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

A novel, miniaturized microfluidic platform was developed for the simultaneous detection and removal of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The platform consists of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic chip for an immunoreaction step, a PDMS chip with an integrated screen-printed electrode (SPCE) for detection, and a PDMS-reduced graphene oxide (rGO) chip for physical adsorption and subsequent removal of PBDE residues. The detection was based on competitive immunoassay-linked binding between PBDE and PBDE modified with horseradish peroxidase (HRP-PBDE) followed by the monitoring of enzymatic oxidation of o-aminophenol (o-AP) using square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SW-ASV). PBDE was detected with good sensitivity and a limit of detection similar to that obtained with a commercial colorimetric test (0.018 ppb), but with the advantage of using lower reagent volumes and a reduced analysis time. The use of microfluidic chips also provides improved linearity and a better reproducibility in comparison to those obtained with batch-based measurements using screen-printed electrodes. In order to design a detection system suitable for toxic compounds such as PBDEs, a reduced graphene oxide–PDMS composite was developed and optimized to obtain increased adsorption (based on both the hydrophobicity and π–π stacking between rGO and PBDE molecules) compared to those of non-modified PDMS. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of electrochemical detection of flame retardants and a novel application of the rGO-PDMS composite in a biosensing system. This system can be easily applied to detect any analyte using the appropriate immunoassay and it supports operation in complex matrices such as seawater.


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About this article

Toward integrated detection and graphene-based removal of contaminants in a lab-on-a-chip platform

Show Author's information Andrzej Chałupniak1, Arben Merkoçi1,2( )
Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2)CSIC and The Barcelona Institute of Science and TechnologyCampus UABBellaterra08193Barcelona, Spain
ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 2308010Barcelona, Spain

Abstract

A novel, miniaturized microfluidic platform was developed for the simultaneous detection and removal of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The platform consists of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic chip for an immunoreaction step, a PDMS chip with an integrated screen-printed electrode (SPCE) for detection, and a PDMS-reduced graphene oxide (rGO) chip for physical adsorption and subsequent removal of PBDE residues. The detection was based on competitive immunoassay-linked binding between PBDE and PBDE modified with horseradish peroxidase (HRP-PBDE) followed by the monitoring of enzymatic oxidation of o-aminophenol (o-AP) using square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SW-ASV). PBDE was detected with good sensitivity and a limit of detection similar to that obtained with a commercial colorimetric test (0.018 ppb), but with the advantage of using lower reagent volumes and a reduced analysis time. The use of microfluidic chips also provides improved linearity and a better reproducibility in comparison to those obtained with batch-based measurements using screen-printed electrodes. In order to design a detection system suitable for toxic compounds such as PBDEs, a reduced graphene oxide–PDMS composite was developed and optimized to obtain increased adsorption (based on both the hydrophobicity and π–π stacking between rGO and PBDE molecules) compared to those of non-modified PDMS. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of electrochemical detection of flame retardants and a novel application of the rGO-PDMS composite in a biosensing system. This system can be easily applied to detect any analyte using the appropriate immunoassay and it supports operation in complex matrices such as seawater.

Keywords: graphene oxide, electrochemistry, microfluidics, flame retardants, lab on a chip, polydimethylsiloxane

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 07 November 2016
Revised: 08 December 2016
Accepted: 14 December 2016
Published: 01 March 2017
Issue date: July 2017

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge FP7 EU Project "SMS" (No. 613844). ICN2 acknowledges support from the Severo Ochoa Program (MINECO, No. SEV-2013-0295) and Secretaria d'Universitats i Recerca del Departament d′Economia i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya (2014 SGR 260). The authors would also like to thank Dr. Mariana Medina Sánchez for microfluidic mold fabrication that was employed in GO-CHIP development.

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